Russia launched more than 700 drones and missiles at Ukraine in multiple waves overnight, killing at least 17 people in what local officials said was the deadliest attack in months.
The officials said nine people were killed in the southern port city of Odesa, four – including a child – in the capital Kyiv, and another four in the central city of Dnipro.
In Russia, two people – including a child – were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the southern Krasnodar region, Moscow said.
This comes after a brief ceasefire took place over Orthodox Easter at the weekend – but both sides accused one another of hundreds of violations.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In Kyiv, warning sirens jolted people awake at 02:30 local time on Thursday (23:30 GMT on Wednesday), followed soon after by the first explosions.
Images posted online by eyewitnesses show bright orange fires and huge plumes of black smoke in central areas of the city. In one video, a drone was filmed slamming straight into the side of an apartment block.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that a 12-year-old boy was among four people killed. Another 45 people were injured.
The mayor added that rescuers had pulled a mother and child from the ruins of a 16-storey residential building that collapsed in the city’s central Podil district.
In the north of the capital, four emergency medical workers were among those injured.
In Dnipro, four people were killed and dozens were injured, regional head Oleksandr Ganzha wrote on Telegram. Pictures posted online showed buildings ablaze in the city.
Credit: bbc.com
