At least 15 people have been killed and around 116 injured while they slept in their homes after a Russian missile barrage in Kyiv overnight.
The deadly attack on Ukraine’s capital is among the largest bombardments since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion - now in its fourth year - as peace talks fail to make progress.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it “one of the most terrifying strikes on Kyiv” and said Russian forces fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine on Tuesday.
He accused Putin of “doing this simply because he can afford to continue the war” and is furious as “the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it”.
Zelensky said: “We are in contact with all partners at every possible level to ensure an appropriate response. It is the terrorists who must feel the pain, not innocent peaceful people.”
Separately, the Russian president’s air defence units intercepted and destroyed 147 Ukrainian drones overnight, Moscow’s defence ministry said.
The strikes on Kyiv lasted more than nine hours – hollowing out a nine-storey residential building and destroying dozens of apartments.
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Interior minister Ihor Klymenko told reporters at the scene that a US citizen was killed in the attack after suffering wounds from shrapnel. Explosions could be heard for hours throughout the night.
Thirty apartments were destroyed in a single residential block after it was struck by a ballistic missile, Klymenko said.
He added: “We have 27 locations that were attacked by the enemy.
“We currently have over 2,000 people working there, rescuers, police, municipal services and doctors.”
It occurred as world leaders convened at the G7 meeting in Canada, which Zelensky is expected to attend.
Residents fled to underground shelters from before midnight until after sunrise.
Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Waking up in utter nightmare: people trapped under rubble and full buildings collapsed.”
Olena Lapyshniak, 49, was shaken from the attack that nearly levelled her apartment building. She heard a whistling sound and then two explosions that blew out her windows and doors.
“It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life,” she said. “There’s no military infrastructure here, nothing here, nothing. It’s horrible when people just die at night.”
People were wounded in the city’s Sviatoshynskyi and Solomianskyi districts.
Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko said fires broke out in two other areas as a result of falling debris from drones shot down by Ukrainian air defences.
Russia has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks.
Moscow escalated attacks after Ukraine staged an audacious operation targeting war planes at air bases deep inside Russian territory.
Little progress has emerged from direct peace talks held in Istanbul, with the exception of prisoner exchanges, expected to conclude next week.
