Russia has carried out a mass missile and drone attack on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 100 others.
A drone smashed into an apartment block, destroying dozens of flats and Ukraine's interior minister said the country had been hit by 440 drones and 32 missiles, BBC reported.
The attack overnight into Tuesday was among the biggest on the capital since the start of Russia's full-scale war and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was "one of the most terrifying strikes".
Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted Ukraine's military-industrial complexes and that all its targets had been hit.
The strikes on Kyiv lasted more than nine hours – sending residents fleeing to underground shelters from before midnight until after sunrise.
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. An entrance to the building in the southwestern Solomyanskyi district came crashing down and there were concerns the number of casualties could rise.
A 62-year-old US citizen was among those killed, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Standing in front of the remains of the building, Klitschko said more than 40 apartments had been destroyed and more people might be trapped under the rubble.
He accused Russia of firing cluster bomblets filled with ball bearings to kill as many people as possible.
"Waking up in utter nightmare: people trapped under rubble and full buildings collapsed," Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko wrote on X.
Klymenko said that a variety of buildings had come under Russian attack, including residential, critical infrastructure and educational facilities.
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.
Kyiv has launched attacks of its own, as direct talks between the warring sides failed to secure a ceasefire or significant breakthrough.
Russia accused Ukrainian forces of launching a missile strike on a district in occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, and Russia-appointed officials said at least 10 people had been hurt.
A reported 147 Ukrainian drones were shot down over nine Russian regions overnight, Russian news agencies said.
bd-pratidin/GR
