18 dead as Russia launches major air attack on Ukraine

At least 18 people were killed in Russian air attacks on major Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv overnight, authorities said, following days of warnings that Moscow was planning a major assault.

Ukraine's air force said it had detected 73 missiles - including ballistic missiles - and 656 drones launched by Russia's army, saying it downed 602 of the drones and 40 of the missiles.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest attack showed Europe needed to develop its own air defence systems and that support from the United States remained crucial.

"Europe needs its own anti-ballistic defence so that this war can finally be brought to an end. And assistance from the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems is absolutely necessary," he wrote on social media.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it had targeted Ukraine's defence industry sites "in response to terrorist attacks".

"The strike objectives have been achieved, all designated targets have been hit," it said.

The "massive strike" using "high-precision weapons" was aimed at targets in the capital Kyiv as well as in regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk, as well as energy and transport infrastructure used by the Ukrainian military in other regions, the Russian defence ministry said.

Russia has targeted Ukraine's power supply and infrastructure while Ukraine has stepped up attacks this year on Russian oil facilities in a war now more than four years old, sometimes causing casualties, but both deny targeting civilians.

At least six people were killed and 66 injured, including children, across the capital of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

A suspected missile strike on a 24-storey apartment building triggered a collapse, leaving people probably trapped under the rubble, Mr Klitschko said.

A nine-storey apartment block was among other buildings set ablaze by suspected missile debris, he added.

"In the Obolon district, cars are burning after being struck by falling missile debris," Mr Klitschko said.

"There are also fires at two locations in open areas, including one near a kindergarten."

Thousands of residents crowded into the Kyiv underground metro system seeking shelter, witnesses said, as the sound of defence systems repelling Russian attacks filled the air.

In the industrial city of Dnipro, 12 people were killed including two children, when a four-storey apartment building collapsed, Mr Zelensky said. Several people were still unaccounted for, he added.

A maternity hospital with newborns and women in labour was also struck in the southern port city of Odesa, authorities said, adding there were no casualties.

Warnings of a major attack

Air raid warnings sounded over much of the country after Mr Zelensky reiterated warnings the previous day of a possible major assault.

"Intelligence warnings regarding Russian strikes remain in effect. A massive strike is possible. They have prepared one," he said in his nightly video address.

"Our defenders are ready 24/7 to the fullest extent possible with the supplies currently available."

Russia warned last week that it intended "systematic strikes" on targets in Kyiv linked to the Ukrainian military as well as decision-making centres and urged foreigners to leave.

It said the action was in response to a drone strike last month on a dormitory in Ukraine's Russian-held region of Luhansk, which killed 21 people. Ukraine denied the attack.

Russia's Ilsky oil refinery, in the southern region of Krasnodar, caught fire after a drone attack, local authorities said on Telegram.

Air defence systems were also repelling drone attacks over Sevastopol, a Russian naval fleet base, in Russia-occupied Crimea, authorities there said.

Reuters could not independently verify all the reports.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person in Russia's Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

Another drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the southwestern city of Krasnodar, its operational headquarters said on Telegram

The Ukraine war has ground on since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Efforts to end it have made little progress, with the administration of US President Donald Trump focused on conflicts in the Middle East.