By Eniola Amadu
A Russian aerial bombardment lasting more than 12 hours has killed at least four people and injured more than 70 others across Ukraine, according to officials in Kyiv.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said all four deaths occurred in the capital, including that of a 12-year-old girl.
He condemned the assault as “vile” and accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians. Russia maintained that it had struck military facilities and industrial sites supporting Ukraine’s armed forces.
The barrage, described by Kyiv as one of the heaviest in recent months, involved nearly 600 drones and dozens of missiles directed at seven regions, including Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Odesa and Kyiv.
Residents reported hearing the first air raid sirens around 22:00 GMT on Saturday. Explosions followed throughout the night as Ukraine’s air defences attempted to intercept drones.
The country’s Defence Minister Igor Klymenko said at least 100 civilian sites were damaged, with “entire neighbourhoods left in ruins.”
Emergency services confirmed that a nurse and a patient were killed in an attack on Kyiv’s Institute of Cardiology.
Zelensky said civilian infrastructure including a bakery, an automobile rubber factory, and several apartment blocks were also hit.
Zaporizhzhia’s governor Ivan Fedorov reported 34 people injured in the region, among them three children. In Sumy, a 59-year-old man was killed in strikes.
Zelensky vowed Ukraine would retaliate, saying: “Ukraine will strike back in order to force diplomacy.”
He urged Europe and the United States to respond firmly, reiterating support for US President Donald Trump’s warnings of harsher sanctions against Moscow.
Trump, who recently suggested Ukraine could retake territory lost to Russia, has appeared increasingly frustrated at the Kremlin’s reluctance to engage in peace talks.
The assault also reverberated beyond Ukraine’s borders. Poland scrambled fighter jets on Sunday after Russian strikes reached western Ukraine.
Polish and NATO aircraft have been on heightened alert since three Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace earlier this month.
Denmark meanwhile reported drones over military sites for a second night in a row, though officials said there was no evidence linking them to Moscow.
NATO announced it would strengthen its mission in the Baltic Sea, including deploying an air defence frigate and increasing surveillance, following multiple airspace violations reported by Estonia, Romania and Poland.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied Moscow had plans to attack EU or NATO states but warned of a “decisive response” to what he called Western aggression.
