Ukrainian cities shelled, including one near nuclear plant

Ukraine's presidential office says that powerful explosions have rattled the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv and a city close to the country’s biggest nuclear power plant sustained a barrage of shelling amid Russian attacks in several regions

Powerful explosions rattled the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on August 4 and a city close to the country's biggest nuclear power plant sustained a barrage of shelling amid Russian attacks in several regions, Ukraine's presidential office said.

At least four civilians were killed and 10 more wounded in 24 hours, with nine Ukrainian regions coming under fire, the office said in its daily update.

The separatist-held eastern city of Donetsk also came under shelling, with Russian-backed local authorities saying that six people were killed.

Kyiv said that two districts of Mykolaiv, which has been targeted frequently in recent weeks, were shelled.

Russian forces reportedly fired 60 rockets at Nikopol, in the central Dnipropetrovsk region. Some 50 residential buildings were damaged in the city of 107,000 and some projectiles hit power lines, leaving city residents without electricity, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Nikopol is located across the Dnieper river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was taken over by Russian troops early in the war.

Experts at the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War believe that Russia is shelling the area intentionally, “putting Ukraine in a difficult position."