The China Mail - Russia pummels Kyiv in deadly attack after Putin retaliation vow

AFP journalists heard air raid sirens and explosions ring out in Kyiv throughout the night as Ukrainian air defence batteries intercepted waves of Russian drones and missiles.

Following the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to "decisively" ramp up pressure on Russia to halt its invasion, which has left tens of thousands dead after more than three years of brutal and costly fighting.

"We heard a drone -- we heard it coming very close, and then there was an explosion," Ksenia, a Kyiv resident, told AFP outside a multiple-storey housing block that was left with a charred and gaping hole after the attack.

"Our windows and window panes were blown out, but we got away with a slight shock," she added, standing in a courtyard littered with broken glass and debris.

One image published by the head of Zelensky's office showed a children's playground scattered with rubble and shards of glass.

Zelensky said at least three people had been killed in the capital, and that Russia had targeted nine regions of Ukraine, including Lviv and Volyn in the west, which border EU and NATO member Poland.

- 'Act decisively' -

"If someone does not put pressure and gives the war more time to take lives, they are complicit and responsible. We need to act decisively," Zelensky wrote on social media.

Deadly attacks have escalated in recent weeks even as the two sides hold talks aimed at ending the conflict triggered by Russia's February 2022 invasion.

Cities and villages have been destroyed across eastern Ukraine and millions forced to flee their homes, with Russia's forces controlling around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory.

The Ukrainian air force said Friday's barrage consisted of 45 missiles and 407 drones. Russian aerial assaults have become larger in recent weeks as concerns build over Ukraine's strained air defence capacity.

Putin had earlier this week told US President Donald Trump he would retaliate over Sunday's Ukrainian drone attack, which damaged nuclear-capable military planes at Russian air bases, including thousands of kilometres behind the front lines in Siberia.

The brazen operation, 18 months in the planning, saw Kyiv smuggle more than 100 small drones into Russia, park them near Russian air bases and unleash them in a coordinated attack.

- Retaliation -

The Kremlin said Thursday it would choose "how and when" to respond.

Putin has repeatedly rejected a ceasefire, and Russian negotiators have issued a host of sweeping demands on Ukraine if it wants to halt the fighting.

They include completely pulling troops out of four regions claimed by Russia, but which its army does not fully control, an end to Western military support, and a ban on Ukraine joining NATO as well as any Western military contingents or hardware being based in the country.

The overnight attack left multiple fires burning in various districts of the capital, and also damaged train tracks in the surrounding Kyiv region, leading to lengthy delays, the national railway operator said.

Three first responders from the state emergency service were killed in Kyiv, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. Kyiv's mayor said earlier that four were killed in the capital.

"They worked under fire to help people. Another nine rescuers were wounded. Some of them are seriously injured, and doctors are fighting for their lives," Klymenko wrote on social media.

Several strikes also hit the city of Lutsk and the Ternopil region in western Ukraine.

"Today, the enemy carried out the most massive air attack on our region to date," said Ternopil's regional military administration chief, Vyacheslav Negoda.

Moscow said Ukrainian strikes overnight on Russia wounded three people in the western Tula region, while Kyiv claimed to have staged successful attacks on two air fields deep inside Russian territory.

Footage shared on social media showed a large fire and smoke billowing into the air at an oil facility that serves a military site in Russia's Saratov region, which has been frequently targeted.

The Russian defence ministry said it downed 174 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ten downed drones were headed for the Russian capital, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

K.Lam--ThChM