At least twelve civilians were killed in the massive attacks on a long row of Ukrainian cities on Sunday night.
Explosions were heard in the capital Kyiv in several rounds and there have been fires in several parts of the city, including a five-story apartment building damaged in the attacks, according to Kyiv's military leadership. Several villages around the capital were also attacked.
The streets look like Bachmut, like Mariupol, it's terrible, says 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko in the village of Markhalivka south of Kyiv, comparing in conversation with AP to some of the worst-hit areas in the war.
I tried to convince her to come to us, she lives on the eighth floor in a house in Kyiv, here we are on the ground floor. She said no and thank God she didn't come, the rocket hit the side where the children's room is.
A difficult morning
Ukraine was hit by a total of 367 drones and rockets, making the attack the largest during the war, says the Air Force's spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat to the news agency AP.
"A difficult morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night", writes Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha on X.
President Volodymyr Zelensky writes on the same platform that "there were deliberate attacks on ordinary cities".
He urges the world to act to put pressure on Russia. "The silence of the US, the silence of others in the world, only encourages" Russia's President Vladimir Putin, he writes and continues:
"Without strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will definitely help."
Calling for pressure
Zelensky receives support from EU Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas, who calls for "the strongest possible international pressure on Russia to stop this war".
The attacks show again how Russia does not shy away from more suffering and a complete destruction of Ukraine, writes Kallas. "Devastating to see children among the innocent victims who have been injured and killed", she continues.
It was the second night in a row that Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities were subjected to extensive Russian airstrikes.
Russia's Defense Ministry reports that they shot down 110 Ukrainian drones during the night to Sunday.
