Russia strikes eastern Ukrainian city, Kyiv condemns 'sham' elections

A Russian strike on an eastern Ukrainian city has killed one police officer and wounded 60 other people.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry says a residential complex and a police station were among the buildings that suffered damage in Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Friday.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Russian missile hit a market in Kostiantynivka in Donetsk, another eastern region. Local media say prosecutors have revised the death toll from the strike down from 17 to 15.

Meanwhile, voting began on Friday in Russia's local elections.

Moscow is also staging what it calls "elections" in four eastern and southern Ukrainian regions, including Donetsk. Russia unilaterally annexed the regions last September.

A spokesperson for Ukraine's defense intelligence called the actions "political propaganda" and condemned the "alleged incorporation and annexation of these territories."

The official said more than 60,000 residents in Russian-occupied territories in two eastern regions have been forcibly mobilized to work for the Russian military.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned the Russian elections as a "sham," saying they "brutally violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine" and are "null and void."