Artillery shells rained down on a city close to Europe's biggest nuclear plant overnight and Russian missiles hit targets near Odesa, a Ukrainian Black Sea port and a grain export hub, as the conflicts headed for its six-month milestone on Wednesday.

Five Russian Kalibr cruise missiles were fired from the Black Sea at the region overnight, the regional administration spokesperson said, citing information from the southern military command. Two were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses while three hit agricultural targets, but there were no casualties.

While Russia said on Sunday the missiles had destroyed an ammunition depot containing missiles for U.S.-made HIMARS rockets. Russia's Defence Ministry said sea-based Kalibr missiles had destroyed a depot that also housed Western-made anti-aircraft systems.

Regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram that Nikopol, a city which lies across the Dnipro river from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's and Europe's biggest nuclear plant was hit by 25 artillery shells, causing a fire at an industrial premises and cutting power to 3,000 residents.

In the south, Russian forces conducted a successful assault on the village of Blahodatne on the border between Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, it said. The city of Mykolaiv was hit with multiple S-300 missiles early on Sunday, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

The Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had destroyed two M777 Howitzers in combat positions in the Kherson region, and a fuel depot in the Zaporizhzhia region.

(With input from Reuters)

(Cover: Ukrainian service members speak to each other in front of a residential building damaged by a Russian military strike, in the town of Siversk, Donetsk region, August 20, 2022. /Reuters)