Fires break out as Ukraine shells Russian-held territory

The scene after a Ukrainian missile hit a factory in Luhansk. Shadow missiles as Ukraine continues to set the stage for its long-awaited counter-offensive.

Satellite data shows more than 900 war-related fires have engulfed Russian-held territory in Ukraine in the past two weeks. , likely caused by rocket attacks.

Fires engulfed the front line from Kharkiv in the east to Kherson in the south at more than four times the frequency of two weeks earlier. , according to analysis by The Economist.

The surge began on 11 May and appears to coincide with the moment Kiev forces began using Storm Shadow missiles sent by the UK.

Long-range weapons capable of hitting fortified positions.

Lugansk Engineering Plant 100 hit Photo: Twitter

Similar models preceded Ukraine's impressive success in the south of the country during its lightning offensive last fall, The Economist notes .

Fighting is expected to intensify with the onset of spring in southern Ukraine, with drought weather and temperatures as high as 25 C (77 F).

Conditions are near optimal for a long-awaited counter-offensive that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described as a win-win chance to show Kiev's Western patrons that he is capable of reclaiming his lands.

However, Mikhail Podolyak, Zelensky's adviser, has tried to temper expectations about Kiev's counteroffensive.

He tweeted: “1. This is not a «one-time event» that will begin at a certain hour of a certain day with a solemn cutting of the red ribbon. 2. These are dozens of different actions to destroy the Russian occupying forces in different directions.”

He added: “The intensive destruction of the enemy’s logistics support is also a counteroffensive.”

Another look at the strike on Machine-Building Plant No. 100 in Lugansk Photo: Twitter in the city of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine, at least two people were killed and 23 were injured.

Footage has surfaced of bloodied victims being helped through corridors that have been turned into ruins.

Zelenskiy called the attack on the psychological hospital and veterinary clinic a «crime against humanity» and at least two children were among the victims.

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A flurry of strikes on Friday night was directed against Kiev and the Dnieper. and eastern regions as Russia continues to ramp up its attacks amid reports of an expected Ukrainian counter-offensive.