Russian rocket and missile attacks are producing more civilian casualties in Ukraine. A military expert suggests the aim of the tactic is to break the will of the Ukrainians.

Reuters news agency says at least 40 people have been killed in Russian attacks on urban areas since Thursday.

A missile attack in Vinnytsia, 260 kilometers southwest of the capital Kyiv, has killed 24 people, including three children. More than 60 were injured.

Ukraine's public broadcaster says one of the children was Liza, a 4-year-old with Down's Syndrome who received heart surgery when she was six months old.

Liza was reportedly killed on her way back from speech therapy with her mother, who was severely wounded and is being treated at a local hospital.
Ukrainian authorities say another attack in the southern port city of Odesa on Saturday injured one person, and caused a massive fire.

They say rockets also landed in the northeastern town of Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region, killing three people and wounding three others.

A Ukrainian military expert told NHK that Russian forces are attacking areas far from the main battlefronts to instill fear in Ukrainians and break their will.

He also said Russia wants to pressure Kyiv by steering Ukrainian public opinion in favor of negotiating with Moscow.

The expert said it is likely to take two weeks, and possibly up to a month, for the Russian military to regroup in the Donbas region in the east.

But he cautioned that Russian military activities have not completely paused in the region.