Missile attack by the occupying forces on a television tower in the village of Antopil near the city of Rivne on Monday morning claimed the lives of at least 19 people, head of Rivne regional military administration Vitaliy Koval said.

"We must inform that the number of victims who died is greater. The operation to unblock the blockages continues and as of 08:30 this morning we have 19 dead and nine injured... This is not the final figure. We are working, there are only a few hours left and we are already unblocking the entire littered territory," Koval said on the Rada television channel on Tuesday morning.

When asked if there were random people among the dead, or if they were all employees of the broadcasting center, the head of the regional administration replied that "there were definitely no random people there," and said that at present the priority task is to save living people who may still be under blockages.

According to him, at present there is access to satellite and cable broadcasting throughout the Rivne region.

Koval also said the Rivne region is currently serving as a humanitarian hub, a transit sorting station. "We receive hundreds of tonnes of cargo, we form them according to needs and, in coordination with the President's Office, we send them already sorted by rail and by road. Some cars come with medicines, some with food," he said.

The head of the regional administration also said that approximately 2,000 internally displaced residents of Ukraine from other regions currently remain in Rivne region. "There are places, we have deployed more capacities of exactly several tens of thousands of places in order to receive our fellow countrymen from other regions... Many of them stay for several days, and then move, but there are those who stayed for a long time... It is nice the fact that many who are already in search of jobs, get a job at our enterprises... Arriving men are registered with the military registration and enlistment offices," Koval said.