'Insane' photo shows huge pile of used Russian rockets in Ukraine

A picture has emerged showing the scale of the recent bombardment on Ukraine wrought by Putin's forces.

Retired US Army major John Spencer posted what he described as the "insane" photo showing two police officers looking at a fragment pile of Russian rockets that hit Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv.

Considered an expert on urban warfare, Spencer has been outspoken on his opinion that the US should send more weapons to Ukraine to help the country defend invasion by the Russians.

On Monday he wrote: "I still strongly believe the U.S. should provide Ukraine [with] ATACMS, Grey Eagle, Patriot missile systems, and more.

"It will greatly assist in ending Russia's illegal war quicker.

"Stop appeasing Putin. The longer the war continues, the risks of escalation/spill-over actually increase."

And when sharing the shocking photo of the piles of rockets, he said: "An insane photo from Kharkiv, Ukraine today. Two police officers looking at a fragment pile of Russian rockets that hit Ukraine's second largest city."

The post has been viewed and liked more than 21,000 times on Twitter

Other pictures show piles of missiles and shells collected by 'sapper' soldiers after Ukraine regained control of Kharkiv in September.

Russian soldiers fled on bicycles and in cars stolen at gunpoint from Ukrainian villagers, according to eyewitnesses. But by October strikes had regained momentum in Kharkiv, as well as in multiple other Ukrainian regions.

On Monday, Ukraine said Russia had again destroyed homes in the south of the country and knocked out power in the north in a new round of missile attacks.

Air alerts sounded across Ukraine and officials urged civilians to take shelter from what they said looked like a large wave of strikes, the latest in relentless rounds of air attacks by Russia since its invasion in February.

However, Roman Busargin, regional governor of Saratov, in the southeast, acknowledged separate reports of a blast at a base housing bomber planes that are part of Russia's strategic nuclear forces, suggesting that Ukraine is still forcefully defending its ground.

Busargin reassured residents they were safe after what he called reports on social media of a "loud bang and a flash" at the Engels air base. "Information about incidents at military facilities is being checked by law enforcement agencies," he said, without elaborating.

The Engels base, about 730 km (455 miles) south of Moscow, is one of two strategic bomber bases housing Russia's air-delivered nuclear capability, comprising 60-70 planes.

Ukraine did not claim responsibility for either incident, or for earlier unexplained explosions.

The Russian attacks later on Monday killed two people in the Zaporizhzhia region where several houses were destroyed, the deputy head of the presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said in one of the first reports of the damage.

Buildings had been hit in the suburbs of the city of Zaporizhzhia and some Russian missiles had been shot down, a city official said.

The governor of the Kyiv capital region said its air defences were working there, and told residents to remain in shelters. An energy provider said power had been knocked out in the northern region of Sumy by the latest missile strikes.

Russian forces have increasingly targeted Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks as they have been forced to retreat on some battlefronts, causing major power outages as winter sets in.

"Don't ignore the alarm," said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff.