Ukraine updates: Several killed in Russian missile strikes in Kyiv, Kharkiv (PHOTOS)

Tuesday's early-morning strikes carried out on Ukraine by Russian forces, in which at least four civilians reportedly died, targeted military facilities, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

Officials said the strikes in Kyiv and Kharkiv were aimed, among other things, at factories producing rockets, explosives and ammunition.

The statement from the ministry comes as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov once more denied that Russia was targeting civilians in Ukraine during what it terms its "special military operation."

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Триває рятувальна операція після чергової російської атаки проти наших міст і людей – свідомого терору проти звичайних житлових будинків у Києві, Харкові, Павлограді. На жаль, є постраждалі та загиблі.

Станом на зараз відомо про 22 людини, які постраждали внаслідок ворожого… pic.twitter.com/cqUCnxj1Vc

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 23, 2024 >

Responding to a question as to whether Moscow was retaliating for what it claims was a Ukrainian artillery attack on the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Peskov said the strikes were unrelated.

"We are continuing our special military operation and our military does not hit social facilities and residential neighborhoods and does not hit civilians," he said, while accusing Ukrainian artillery of targeting Russian civilians, without providing any evidence. 

Russian airstrikes and shelling have killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians since Moscow began a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.