Russia carried out its largest aerial attack over a two-day period since the start of its war in Ukraine, pounding the capital Kyiv and other cities with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.

Russia had launched 1,567 drones since the start of Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. At least 27 civilians have been killed over the two days, officials said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the war, which has killed hundreds of thousands and ravaged swathes of Ukraine over more than four years, was "coming to an end."

But, as Moscow launched what Ukraine said were more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles overnight, Zelensky did not sound positive.

"These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end," Zelensky said.

"It's important that partners do not remain silent about this strike. And it is equally important to continue supporting the protection of our skies."

Kyiv was the main target of the overnight strikes, Zelensky said. Ukraine's State Emergency Services said at least 21 people, including three children, were killed in the capital and Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced a day of mourning for Friday.

In a statement issued after midnight, the Emergency Services said rescue operations were continuing round the clock.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Thursday's attacks.

Reuters TV footage from Kyiv showed emergency workers moving carefully across piles of rubble and cutting through concrete at the site of a strike on a nine-storey residential building where an entire section had been destroyed.

Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelensky said that, according to initial analysis, a recently manufactured Russian Kh-101 missile had struck the building. He called for renewed diplomatic efforts to keep such technology out of Russian hands.

"There were people there, children. What happened to them? You have to understand, an entire building collapsed," Alla Komisarova, 74, a pensioner, told Reuters on the site of the strike, holding back tears.

"I heard something flying, it's flying nearby... And then there was such a terrible sound, and our house, which is opposite (to the one hit) jumped and staggered."

More than 1,500 rescue workers have been deployed across Ukraine to deal with the aftermath of the strikes, including nearly 600 in Kyiv.

Zelensky said that overall 180 facilities had been damaged in Ukraine, including more than 50 residential buildings.

He said a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs vehicle had come under fire from drones during a humanitarian mission in the southern city of Kherson.

In Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, 28 people, including three children, were wounded and civilian infrastructure was targeted, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Ukraine's energy ministry said electricity supplies in 11 regions had been disrupted. The strikes also targeted port infrastructure in the southern Odesa region and railways, officials said. (Reuters)



Edited by Cecil Wong