Russian missile and drone barrage kills four in Kyiv

KYIV - Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, wounding dozens across the country and killing at least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, in the capital alone, Kyiv said Sunday.

Neighbouring Poland scrambled jets to secure its airspace in the wake of the barrage, after NATO accused Moscow of being behind a series of violations of the defence alliance's airspace.

Diplomatic efforts to stop the war have faltered, while Russia has vowed to press on with its offensive in the three-and-a-half-year-long conflict.

"Moscow wants to continue fighting and killing and deserves only the harshest pressure from the world," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said following the strikes, which lasted for 12 hours.

"The Kremlin benefits from continuing this war and terror as long as there are profits from energy sales," he added, urging stronger measures against Russia from Kyiv's allies.

Russia said it had only hit military targets during the attack. Moscow has never admitted targeting civilians in the conflict.

Russias full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, killing tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians.

The Ukrainian leader vowed his country would target Russia's ability to fund the war and force Moscow to the negotiating table.

Besides the dead, more than 40 people were wounded across the Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Sumy, Cherkasy and Mykolaiv regions, Ukrainian authorities said.

Kyiv region resident Mark Sergeev and his family were sleeping when a missile hit their apartment in the middle of the night.

"I still can't believe that the children are alive. It's such a blessing from God. They were right under the roof when it hit them. The roof was torn off right above my eldest son's bed," the 35-year-old told AFP.

'IN SHOCK'

Anna, 26, another victim of the strike, said her flat was covered in broken glass after it was hit.

"I was in shock, so I didn't hear much... But I heard a rocket flying for a long time, and then there was just an explosion and the windows shattered," she said.

Zelensky posted photos of residential buildings caught up in flames, with emergency services putting out fires and rescuing people from shattered buildings.

More victims could be uncovered as rescuers went about their jobs, they warned. AFP reporters saw rescuers using heavy machinery to clear up the rubble from almost completely destroyed buildings.

Apart from residential buildings, a cardiology centre and a kindergarten were among the targets across the country, Ukraine's foreign ministry said.

Russia rained down 643 drones and rockets, including cruise missiles, across eastern, central and southern Ukraine, Ukraine's General Staff said.

'THEY WILL REGRET IT'

Poland's armed forces said on X that Warsaw had scrambled fighter jets in its airspace and put ground-based air defence systems on high alert in response to Russia's strikes.

In recent weeks, several European countries have accused Russia of violating their airspace with drones and fighter jets, in what NATO sees as a test of its resolve.

Russia has deniedthat it is responsible for the incursions or that it plans to attack any NATO nation.

In an address at the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday, Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that "any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response".

Zelensky said Ukraine received a US-made Patriot air defence system from Israel, and two more were expected to arrive soon, after he returned from his own trip to New York, where he also addressed the UN.

While initially neutral in the conflict, Israel's ties with Moscow have cooled as Russia has drifted closer to Iran and condemned Israel's war in Gaza.

Kyiv and Moscow also said on Saturday that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - Europe's largest - had been off the grid for four days, stoking fears of a potential nuclear incident.