At least five people have been killed and more than 20 wounded as Russia launched a barrage of missiles, drones and bombs across Ukraine, officials said.
The Ukrainian air force said on Saturday that Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defences shot down and neutralised 87 drones and seven missiles.
At least three people were killed and 17 others, including two children, were wounded in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said, describing the assault as “the most powerful” on the city since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He reported 48 Iranian-made drones, two missiles and four guided bombs were fired before dawn at the city of 1.4 million people, located just 50km (30 miles) from the Russian border.
“Drones are still circling above,” Terekhov wrote on Telegram at 4:40am (01:40 GMT), as air raid sirens wailed across the city. Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were heavily damaged.
The northeastern city was also hit by a missile strike on Thursday that left 18 people injured, including four children.
Surge in attacks
Elsewhere in the south, Russian shelling hit the city of Kherson, killing a couple and damaging residential buildings, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin confirmed. In Dnipro, two women, aged 45 and 88, were injured in separate attacks.
Officials said on Friday that at least six people were killed and dozens were wounded on Friday when Russia launched an aerial bombardment across Ukraine. Rescue workers in the city of Lutsk on Saturday recovered another body, raising the toll from Friday’s attacks to seven.
Moscow said Friday’s assault was carried out in response to Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia, saying military sites were targeted.
The surge in Russian attacks follows a Ukrainian drone operation last weekend that damaged nuclear-capable military aircraft at Russian airbases deep behind the front lines, including in Siberia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to retaliate for the attack, which Kyiv reportedly planned for 18 months using smuggled drones.
Ukraine, meanwhile, continues to push for a 30-day ceasefire and presented its latest proposal during talks in Istanbul on Monday. But Moscow has rejected calls for a truce, insisting the war is a matter of national survival.
“For us, it is an existential issue,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday. “It concerns our national interest, our safety, and the future of our country.”
Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraw from four partially occupied regions, abandon its NATO ambitions and halt all Western military cooperation – terms Kyiv has dismissed as unacceptable. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has instead called for a three-way summit involving himself, Putin and United States President Donald Trump.
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