The China Mail - Twelve killed, dozens injured by Russian strikes on Ukraine

"Today Russia hit us with almost everything it has in its arsenal," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The military said 158 missiles and drones were fired on Ukraine and 114 of them were destroyed.

Ukraine is urging Western allies to maintain military support after the United States just released its final package of weaponry under existing agreements.

Russia tried to overwhelm Ukraine's air defences across most major cities, launching a wave of Shahed attack drones followed by missiles of numerous types fired from planes and from Russian-controlled territory.

Buildings damaged in six cities included warehouses, a shopping mall and a maternity hospital, according to officials.

In Kyiv, AFP reporters heard several powerful explosions in the early hours of Friday.

In the city's northern Podil district, a warehouse measuring around 3,000 square metres (32,300 square feet) caught fire.

At the scene there was a strong smell of burning plastic as firefighters wearing oxygen masks tackled the blaze and a huge column of black smoke billowed into the sky, an AFP reporter saw.

There were believed to be 10 people trapped under the rubble, said the head of the city's military administration, Sergiy Popko.

Strikes on the capital left two dead, according to the interior ministry.

The city's Lukyanivska metro station, whose platforms were being used as an air raid shelter, was damaged and its entrance closed to passengers, Popko said.

Several other residential and warehouse buildings were damaged.

- Maternity hospital struck -

The overnight attacks came days after Ukraine struck a Russian warship in the occupied Crimean port of Feodosia in a major setback for the Russian navy.

Friday's strikes targeted at least six Ukrainian cities including Kharkiv in the northeast, Lviv in the west, Dnipro in the east and Odesa in the south.

In Dnipro, the health ministry said a maternity hospital had been "severely damaged" but the staff and patients managed to shelter in time.

A shopping mall in the city was also hit and caught fire.

Five people were killed and over 20 injured with more believed to be under the rubble, said Sergiy Lysak, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk region's military administration.

In Lviv, regional governor Maksym Kozytsky said one person was killed and 15 wounded by drones and missiles that damaged high-rise blocks of flats and two schools.

The eastern city of Kharkiv faced around 20 strikes, killing one person and wounding 11, said Oleg Sinegubov, the head of the city's military administration.

The interior ministry said two people were also killed in the southern region of Odesa.

In Zaporizhzhia on the Dnipro River, one woman was killed and some 10 injured after strikes on industrial and residential areas, Yuriy Malashko, the head of the regional military administration said.

- Crucial US support -

The UN's humanitarian envoy for Ukraine on Friday denounced the latest wave of Russian attacks.

"For the Ukrainian people, this is another unacceptable example of the horrifying reality they are faced with and which made 2023 another year of enormous suffering," Denise Brown said on social media.

Ukraine presidential aide Andriy Yermak said Kyiv needed "more support and strength to stop this terror".

"Missiles are flying at our cities again and civilians are being targeted," he wrote.

On Thursday, Zelensky thanked the United States for releasing the last remaining package of weapons under existing authorisation, as uncertainty surrounds further aid to his war-torn country.

Zelensky had warned that any change in policy from the US -- Kyiv's main backer -- could have a strong impact on the course of the war.

Y.Parker--ThChM