Uman (Ukraine) (AFP) - Russian strikes battered cities across Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 19 people as Kyiv said preparations for a highly anticipated offensive against Moscow’s forces were nearly complete.

The barrage of almost two dozen missiles overnight ended a weeks-long pause following the repeated Russian strikes that had aimed to paralyse Ukraine’s energy grid during the winter months.

These deadly new attacks included a strike on a residential block in Uman, central Ukraine, where AFP journalists saw rescue workers extracting victims’ remains from destroyed buildings.

“I want to see my children, they are under the rubble,” said Dmitry, a 33-year-old local from Lugansk, a northeastern city under Russian control.

Rescuers were using cranes to search for survivors among the remains of the multi-storey housing block in the central city of 80,000 inhabitants.

“I’ve seen a lot but I haven’t lost my children before. Now I want to see my children alive or dead,” Dmitry said.

Regional governor Igor Taburets said two cruise missiles hit the city, killing 17 people including two 10-year-old children.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the latest barrage and vowed a response to “Russian terror”.

Moscow said it had targeted reserve units of the Ukrainian military and that “all assigned objects were hit.”

Russian missiles also hit the central city of Dnipro, already grief-stricken after a January strike on a tower block that killed more than 40 people.

- Practically ‘ready’ -

“A young woman and a three-year-old child died,” the city’s mayor Borys Filatov said Friday on Telegram.

There were no reported casualties in Kyiv, which was among the cities targeted Friday.

The capital had not been hit by missiles in more than 50 days, although last week it was attacked by 12 Iranian-made drones, eight of which were shot down without causing any casualties.

Ukraine said overall it had downed 21 of 23 Russian missiles and two attack drones.

The country’s air defence system has been bolstered in recent months by the delivery of Western equipment crucial to the country’s war effort.

The new strikes came as Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said his country’s preparations to push back against entrenched Russian positions were almost complete.

NATO allies and partners have provided Ukraine with 1,550 armoured vehicles and 230 tanks to form units and help it retake territory from Russian forces, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

“Equipment has been promised, prepared and partially delivered. In a global sense, we’re ready,” Reznikov said.

Kyiv has said throughout the war launched by Russia last February that it is intent on repelling Moscow’s forces from territory they control in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“Preparations are coming to an end,” Reznikov added of the planned offensive.

- Promises to rebuild Bakhmut -

“As soon as there is God’s will, the weather and the decision of the commanders – we will do it.”

Most of the fighting is centralised in the eastern Donbas region, particularly the city of Bakhmut, which has been almost completely destroyed.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said Friday he had paid a rare visit to the embattled city and vowed Moscow would rebuild it.

“The city is damaged, but it can be restored. As soon as the operational situation allows, we will go in and work, step by step,” he said.

The Moscow-appointed head of the Donetsk region in Donbas meanwhile said that Ukrainian shelling had killed seven people in the territory’s main city.

In need of allies to support its drawn-out war effort, Moscow has cultivated its relationship with China.

The leaders of Ukraine and China spoke by telephone this week, with Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly advocating peace negotiations.

Xi and Zelensky’s nearly one-hour discussion on Wednesday was met by Russian accusations that Ukraine was undermining efforts to end the fighting.

“We are ready to welcome anything that can bring forward the end of the conflict in Ukraine and the achievement of Russia’s goals,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“Missile strikes killing innocent Ukrainians in their sleep, including a 2-years-old child, is Russia’s response to all peace initiatives,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted after Friday’s attack.