Russia pounds Ukrainian port; Putin announces global maritime ambitions

Russian missiles pounded Ukraine's port city Mykolaiv on the Black Sea, as President Vladimir Putin signed a new naval doctrine casting the United States as Russia's main rival and setting global maritime ambitions in the Black Sea and Arctic.

Putin did not mention the conflict in Ukraine during a speech marking Russia's Navy Day on Sunday, but said the navy would receive hypersonic Zircon cruise missiles in coming months. The missiles can travel at nine times the speed of sound, outrunning air defences.

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Navy Day celebrations in the port of Sevastopol were disrupted when five Russian navy staff members were injured by an explosion after a suspected drone flew into the courtyard of Russia's Black Sea fleet, the Crimean port city's governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, told Russian media.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

A firefighter pushes out a fire in a building after shelling in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. AFP

Olga Kovitidi, a member of Russia's upper house of parliament, told Russia's RIA news agency that the attack was "undoubtedly carried out not from outside, but from the territory of Sevastopol".

"Urgent search operations are being conducted in the city to track down the organisers of this terrorist act," Kovitidi was quoted as saying.

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said more than 12 missile strikes on Sunday, probably the most powerful on the city in five months of war, hit homes and schools, with two people confirmed killed and three wounded. Missile strikes continued into Sunday evening.

Rescuers carry fragment of a missile in an open air after a Russian strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. AFP

Ukrainian grain tycoon Oleksiy Vadatursky, founder and owner of agriculture company Nibulon, and his wife were killed in their home, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Headquartered in Mykolaiv, a strategically important city that borders the mostly Russian-occupied Kherson region, Nibulon specialises in the production and export of wheat, barley and corn, and has its own fleet and shipyard.

Reuters