Nine people were killed in a suspected Russian ballistic missile attack in Kyiv overnight.
Rescue operations have been launched in five districts of the city after a wave of missiles and drones struck in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
At least 63 people have been injured. Six of the wounded are children, according to Vitali Klitschko, the city’s mayor.
“There has been destruction. The search is continuing for people under rubble,” the emergency services wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Kharkiv was struck by seven missiles in a “massive drone attack”, which Igor Terekov, the city’s mayor, said was ongoing.
Andriy Yermak, a top aide of Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia was attacking Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities “with missiles and drones right now”.
“Putin shows only a desire to kill,” he said. “The attacks on civilians must stop.”
It comes amid faltering peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine as Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed Mr Zelensky for derailing his ceasefire plan by refusing to accept the loss of Crimea.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is in South Africa for talks with its president Cyril Ramaphosa on efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But following last night’s attacks, Mr Zelensky has said he will now immediately return to Ukraine and his foreign affairs minister will instead hold “all necessary meetings” to “fully inform the country’s political and public leaders about the situation”.
Mr Zelensky said “a lot of destruction” was caused by Moscow’s overnight missile attack, adding that “more than 80 people have been injured throughout Ukraine.”
Russia launched 215 drones and missiles at the country during its overnight attack, Ukraine’s air force said.
Air force units shot down 48 missiles and 64 drones, while 68 drones were redirected, likely as a result of Ukraine’s use of electronic warfare to misdirect them, it added in a post on Telegram.
The air force said Kyiv was the “main direction of the attack”, where Ukrainian authorities have reported at least nine people were killed.
A major rescue operation is underway in Kyiv following Russia’s overnight drone and missile attack.
More than 70 people suffered injuries from the attack, with nine people so far confirmed to have died.
“Mobile phones can be heard ringing under the ruins,” Ukraine’s interior minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram. “The search will continue until everybody is got out.”
Mr Klymenko said that engineering forces, climbers and search dogs had all been employed to help emergency services in the rescue operation.
He added that there was still no information on the whereabouts of two missing children.
Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event it faces aggression by Western countries, Russia’s top security official told local media on Thursday.
Sergei Shoigu cited amendments made last year to Russia’s nuclear doctrine that allow it to use nuclear weapons in the event Russia or its neighbour and ally Belarus are attacked, including by conventional weapons,the TASS state news agency reported.
A massive Russian missile strike that killed nine in Kyiv overnight shows that Moscow is not interested in halting its invasion, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister said Thursday.
“Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine, targeting civilians in Kyiv and other areas,” Andriy Sybiha wrote on X.
“Yesterday’s Russian maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions, combined with these brutal strikes, show that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace. Moscow, not Kyiv, is where pressure should be applied.”
Mr Sybiha highlighted the devastation in Kyiv, saying it “experienced a particularly horrible and loud night.” At least 9 civilians have been confirmed killed in Kyiv, and more than 70 injured, including 6 children.
Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine, targeting civilians in Kyiv and other areas.
Yesterday’s Russian maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions, combined with these brutal strikes, show that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to… pic.twitter.com/frxYKvv4nt
Pictures posted on Telegram show rescue teams working with floodlights, moving through piles of rubble and clambering up ladders along the facades of buildings.
Police have been calling from apartment to apartment to determine whether residents were safe.
Rescue teams, the emergency service said, are operating at 13 sites in the capital with climbing specialists and sniffer dogs.
At least 40 fires have broken out.
The missile attack, which began around 1am, hit at least four neighbourhoods in Kyiv.
In Sviatoshynkskyi district, a fire broke out in a residential building that was damaged in the attack.
People were trapped under rubble in the building, the Kyiv City Administration said.
More fires were reported in the Shevchenkivsky and Holosiivskyi districts.
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