Czech, Slovak presidents arrive in Kyiv amid Russia missile attacks

The presidents of Czech Republic and Slovakia arrived in Kyiv early on Friday, as Russia carried out its missile attack on Ukraine.

The Czech media outlet Novinky reported that Petr Pavel and Zuzana Chaputova were to visit war-affected settlements and hold political meetings.

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The Czech and Slovak presidents already travelled to Borodianka, where they were shown the ruins of bombed-out residential buildings and graffiti by British artist Banksy, in which a small judoka defeats a grown man.

"The Czech president arrived in Kyiv by train at night. At this time, the Russians again fired missiles at a number of Ukrainian cities," Novinky reported.

In a Twitter post, Mr Pavel noted that he and Ms Chaputova "understand the value of freedom and justice."

"It is hard to see with my own eyes that Ukrainians are paying the highest price for this. With the blood and lives of their citizens. In the fight against the aggressor, they are defending what we have in common. That is why we will stand with them."

Russia launched missile attacks across Ukraine overnight on Friday, hitting a nine-storey residential building in the city of Uman, in the central Cherkasy region. The number of casualties is still growing.

Missile attacks were also reported in the city of Dnipro, where a child and a young woman were killed and three people wounded. In the Kyiv region, two people were wounded in the town of Ukrainka as missile fragments fell after being struck by air defence.

Overall, according to Ukraine's air defence forces, 21 out of 23 cruise missiles were struck, as well as several unmanned aerial vehicles.