Russia has unleashed its largest ballistic missile attack of the war on Ukraine, with more than 40 missiles raining down on Kyiv.
Six people were killed and dozens of others wounded in the barrage, which went on for several hours.
Moscow launched 41 missiles and 125 attack drones, according to the Ukrainian air force.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said most of the weapons had targeted the capital.
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, wrote on X: “Russia unleashed the largest number of ballistic missiles since the start of the war – around four dozen – in a brutal terrorist attack on the Ukrainian capital, killing and injuring people.
“We urge appropriate and strong responses. We need devastating pressure on Moscow to end this terror.”
The strikes caused fires in five districts of the city, damaging residential buildings, office and industrial sites, a dormitory and vehicles, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.
Rescue workers pulled four people from a private home that had caught fire in the Sviatoshynskyi district, while in the Shevchenkivskyi district, they rescued residents from a burning three-storey building.
A fire was also contained in a non-residential building, where a person was later found dead.
Firefighters also responded to blazes in the Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi and Dnipro districts.
One resident in western Kyiv said he had been inside his apartment when he was hit in the head by his balcony door, which was torn off in the blast
He said: “My grandmother lives with me, and she can’t walk. How could I run away and leave her behind?”
Later on Sunday, a Russian attack on a postal facility near Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv killed three people and wounded at least 20, according to the regional administration.
Russian guided bombs also hit the cities of Kherson and Sumy, local authorities and Ukraine’s emergency service reported, with each of the strikes leaving at least one person dead.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed that the attack on Kyiv had targeted sites linked to the Ukrainian military – including plants producing Flamingo drones and parts for Neptune guided missiles, as well as a postal terminal “used for storing dual-use goods and assembling drones, robotic systems and electronic warfare equipment”.
Moscow’s large-scale attacks against Kyiv in recent weeks are taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of Patriot air-defence missiles, which are its most effective means of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.
Donald Trump has said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licences to produce Patriots. However, the details for implementing the decision remain unclear.
Zelenskyy said: “Protection against ballistic missiles is our constant and top priority right now.
“Interceptors are needed every day, and I am grateful to everyone who takes our agreements seriously and ensures the delivery of anti-ballistic capabilities.
“Delays in adopting new decisions give Moscow the opportunity to plan not only new attacks against our people, but also ways to circumvent new sanctions.”
He added that in the past week Russia had used around 1450 attack drones, more than 1640 guided aerial bombs and 99 missiles against Ukraine.
Sergii Koretskyi, the prime minister of Ukraine, said the attack was a “reminder that Russia’s strategy has been reduced to terror against civilians”.
He added: “Ukraine will endure, but protecting innocent lives requires sustained international support and stronger air defences to stop these attacks before they reach our cities.”
Ukrainian forces struck two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea in an overnight attack, Kyiv’s military said.
In a statement, the general staff said it had also struck a floating crane in the Sea of Azov, adding that all three targets were being used to support Russia’s war effort.
The attacks on Kyiv follow a Ukrainian drone attack on a logistics centre belonging to the Russian equivalent of Amazon on Sunday.
Long-range drones struck the Wildberries facility in the city of Elektrostal. Russian authorities said at least eight people were killed and 62 injured in the strikes.
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