ReutersAt least 14 people have been killed overnight and dozens more wounded in Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, officials say.
It was one of the largest bombardments of the capital since the beginning of the full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko said a total of 440 drones and 32 missiles had been launched at the country.
Officials said a ballistic missile hit a nine-storey apartment building in one district, with a total of 27 districts of the city coming under fire.
The strikes lasted more than nine hours – sending Kyiv residents fleeing to underground shelters from before midnight until after sunrise.
Loud explosions rocked the city, along with the rattle of the machine guns used by mobile Ukrainian air defence units to shoot down drones.
More sirens later in the morning disrupted rescue operations in the city, hampering emergency workers searching the rubble for survivors.
Russia has intensified its air attacks against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, with a tactic of sending large waves of drones and decoys designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
ReutersPresident Volodymyr Zelensky called the wave of strikes “pure terrorism”.
Zelensky accused the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of carrying out the large scale strikes “solely because he can afford to continue this war”.
“It is bad when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to this,” he said, adding: “It is the terrorists who should feel the pain, not normal, peaceful people.”
Drone strikes also hit the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, killing one person and injuring at least 10 others, Klymenko said.
Zelenksy had been hoping to speak with the US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday but Trump cut short his stay amid the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
The news will come as a blow to Zelensky and his administration, which had been hoping to secure US support at the conference for Ukraine’s strategic and military goals.
