Ukraine has accused Russia of pounding the country with “hundreds” of drones and missiles overnight, killing at least four people in the capital.<\/p>\n
The attacks came after Russia warned NATO against taking sterner action in response to alleged incursions into airspace covered by the military alliance.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that around 500 drones and more than 40 missiles had been launched during the attack.<\/p>\n
“Moscow wants to continue fighting and killing and deserves only the harshest pressure from the world,” he said on the Telegram app.<\/p>\n
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In the wider Kyiv region Russian strikes have left at least 27 wounded, Ukrainian authorities said. (Reuters: Anatolii Stepanov)<\/p>\n
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that Moscow had carried out a massive strike on Ukraine, claiming to have hit military airfields and other facilities.<\/p>\n
“Last night, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, sea-based weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine used in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the infrastructure of military airfields,” the ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The barrage also followed the revelation by Mr Zelenskyy that Kyiv had received a US-made Patriot air defence system from Israel for use against Russian assaults.<\/p>\n
“Russia launched another massive air attack on Ukrainian cities while people were sleeping,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiga said on X.<\/p>\n
“Again, hundreds of drones and missiles, destroying residential buildings and causing civilian casualties,” he said.<\/p>\n
He posted footage of flames bursting from the windows of a multi-storey apartment block, with Mr Sybiga blaming the blaze on the attack.<\/p>\n
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says Russia launched drone attacks on residential areas of Kyiv on September 28. (X: Andrii Sybiha)<\/p>\n
12-year-old girl among the dead<\/p>\n
Timur Tkachenko, head of the military administration in the capital Kyiv, said the deaths included “a 12-year-old girl killed by Russians”.<\/p>\n
More deaths could be uncovered as rescuers went about their jobs, he warned.<\/p>\n
In the wider Kyiv region surrounding the capital, the Russian strikes left at least 27 wounded, Mykola Kalachnyk, the military administration’s head, said on Telegram.<\/p>\n
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Ukrainian leaders say Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles. (Reuters: Gleb Garanich)<\/p>\n
The strikes that began overnight and continued after dawn on Sunday also targeted residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a medical facility and a kindergarten, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who said damage was reported at more than 20 locations across the capital.<\/p>\n
At Kyiv’s central train station, passengers arrived to the crackle of anti-aircraft gunfire and the low buzz of attack drones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mostly women, they waited quietly in a platform underpass until the air raid alert ended.\u00a0<\/p>\n