A Russian missile demolished an apartment block in a Ukrainian region that Moscow said it had annexed, killing at least one woman.

The Ukrainian military forged ahead with its drive to recapture land in the south and east.

The missile attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia in the southern region of the same name left some people buried under the rubble.

The regional governor said on Thursday it was a stark reminder of Moscow’s ability to strike targets even at a time when its forces appear to be struggling on the battlefield.

There was no immediate comment on the strike from Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has begun to unravel after a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Thousands of square miles of territory have been retaken since the start of September, including dozens of settlements in recent days.

In a blow for Moscow, thousands of Russian troops have retreated after the front line crumbled, first in the northeast, and, since the beginning of this week, also in the south.

Images of the aftermath of Thursday’s missile strike, which took place in the early hours of the morning, showed a gaping, rubble-strewn hole where a terracotta-coloured five-storey apartment block used to stand next to a wine shop.

Reuters reporters saw firefighters bringing a father and son down a long ladder and talking to an older man still trapped under rubble and covered in dust.

Eduard, a 49-year-old man who survived the attack said: “It was dark, around five in the morning.

“I was woken up by a strong explosion. The room was filled with smoke and dust.

“I jumped up to go see what had happened.’’

Twelve people were wounded, including a three-year-old child, and five were still under the rubble, said Oleksandr Starukh, the governor.

The attack came just a day after President Vladimir Putin signed a law to incorporate four partially occupied Ukrainian regions into Russia, including Zaporizhzhia, in Europe’s biggest attempted annexation since World War Two.

Kyiv called the new law, which seeks to incorporate about 18 per cent of Ukraine’s territory into Russia, the act of a collective madhouse.

Russia moved to annex the four regions after holding what it called referendums – votes that were denounced by Kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a late-night address on Wednesday that his army had retaken more settlements in the southern Kherson region.

Switching from Ukrainian to Russian, Zelenskiy addressed pro-Moscow forces, telling them they had already lost.

“Ukrainians know what they are fighting for. And more and more citizens of Russia are realising that they must die simply because one person does not want to end the war,’’ he said, in a reference to Mr Putin.

Footage released by the Ukrainian army in Kherson showed a Russian infantry fighting vehicle with a white piece of fabric wrapped around its gun barrel surrendering to Ukrainian troops.

Its three-man Russian crew fell to their knees as a group of Ukrainian soldiers covered them with their guns. 

(Reuters/NAN)