More than ten people, including children, have been killed in airstrikes in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, head of Sumy’s regional administration, has said.

He said several houses were also destroyed when a bomb hit near the centre of Sumy.

“In some localities, residential buildings were bombed,’’ Mr Zhyvytskyisaid in a statement on Tuesday.

Four Ukrainian soldiers were also killed in what Mr Zhyvytskyi described as “unequal combat with the Russian military.’’

The information could not initially be independently verified.

Meanwhile, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov estimated the damage wrought to Ukraine’s transport infrastructure by the Russian invasion at more than $10 billion.

This included bridges, railway lines, and airports, he said in remarks reported in Tuesday’s edition of the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper.

The Ukrainian official said the damage could be repaired in two years and that he was counting on foreign assistance to rebuild.

(dpa/NAN)