A Russian strike killed five civilians and wounded 55 on Tuesday in the town of Izium in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, partially destroying the city council building, officials said in an update.

Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday its air force had struck a Russian military command post in Russia’s Kursk region the previous day.

“The facility sustained significant damage, leading to substantial casualties among enemy personnel,” the general staff said on Telegram.

The Independent could not independently verify the statement.

Ukraine’s military has reported numerous strikes on Russian military and energy facilities in recent weeks. Ukrainian forces have been battling Russian troops in the Kursk region since Ukraine mounted a cross border operation there last year.

Two Russian TU-95MS strategic bombers conducted a routine flight over the Sea of Barents and Norwegian Sea, state-run RIA news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Russian Defence Ministry.

Strategic bomber planes, which form part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent, have also made flights in recent months over the Black and Baltic Seas as well as the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan.

Russia uses such flights to maintain force readiness and project strength at a time of heightened East-West confrontation because of the war in Ukraine.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday and inspected an electricity distribution substation, warning that attacks on Ukraine’s power grid could pose a risk of nuclear accident by disrupting supply.

“I’m at Kyivska electrical substation,” an important part of Ukraine’s power grid essential for nuclear safety,” Grossi wrote on X. “A nuclear accident can result from a direct attack on a plant, but also from power supply disruption.”

Grossi posted pictures of him visiting the substation alongside Energy Minister German Galushchenko, and being showed what appeared to be defences against Russian strikes.

Moscow has regularly bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including substations, throughout its three-year invasion, although it has avoided direct strikes on Ukraine’s nuclear plants.

Grossi said he would visit Russia later this week to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Russia captured the plant, Europe’s biggest nuclear power station, soon after its forces went into Ukraine in February 2022.

“It’s essential that I, in the discharge of my obligations keep channels of communication constantly,” Grossi told a news briefing.

Downing Street has urged Brits not to follow former Tory MP Jack Lopresti to war in Ukraine after he joined the country’s International Legion to help in the fight against Russia.

The ex-deputy chairman of the Conservative Party is now based in Kyiv using his skills in the ongoing war in a non-combat role.

But, asked whether the prime minister supports Mr Lopresti’s involvement in the war, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said the government advises against travel to Ukraine.

The spokesman said: “Our long-standing position is that we advise against all travel to Ukraine except some western regions of the country.

“The government is supporting Ukraine wherever we can, we want to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position.”

But, asked directly whether the PM would advise against more Brits signing up to fight for Ukraine, the spokesman repeated: “We advise against all travel to Ukraine except some western regions of the country.”

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has said that “only force and pressure” can stop Russia’s war of aggression.

The politician issued the statement alongside a video of Russia’s latest missile strike on the northeast Ukrainian city of Izyum, which has killed five people and injured 30 more.

A Russian strike killed five civilians and injured more than 30 in the town of Izyum in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, partially destroying the city council building, officials said in an update on Tuesday.

Russian forces hit the town’s central district using a ballistic missile, governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram, citing preliminary information. He added there were no military facilities in the area.

A 15-year-old girl was among the injured and three people were undergoing surgery after the strike, he added.

Rescuers continued to work at the site, he added.

Izium was occupied by Russian forces at the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now approaching its three-year anniversary, and sustained widespread destruction.

After the town was liberated, Ukrainian officials said they found mass graves and accused Russia of war crimes, which Moscow denies.