US official dismisses Russia claim of military target in Vinnytsia

A US official on Friday dismissed Russia's claim that it targeted a meeting of the Ukrainian air force in Vinnytsia in an attack that Kyiv says killed 23 people including children.

"I have no indication that there was a military target anywhere near that," the senior defence official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

"That looked like an apartment building," said the official, who also confirmed that Russia launched the missile strike Thursday from a submarine.

Including the Vinnytsia attack, the official estimated that 100 to 150 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in Russian strikes in the past one to two weeks, citing public reporting.

Vinnytsia is a central Ukrainian city hundreds of kilometers from the frontlines that had mostly enjoyed calm since Russia invaded on February 24.

Russia's defence ministry said Friday that it was targeting "a meeting of the command of the Ukrainian Air Force with representatives of foreign arms suppliers."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned late Thursday that the death toll was likely to rise and said, "No other state in the world poses such a terrorist threat as Russia."

• Europe