BBC:
At least three people have been killed and another 21 injured in the biggest Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, the mayor has said.
Ihor Terekhov said that overnight Russia launched 48 drones, as well as two missiles and four gliding bombs in an attack he described as “open terror”.
Two people were also killed in Russian strikes on Kherson, in southern Ukraine, local authorities said.
It comes after a massive wave of drone and missile attacks hit targets across Ukraine on Thursday night. Moscow said those strikes were in response to “terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime”, following Ukraine’s surprise raids on Russian air bases last Sunday.
Some 18 apartment buildings and 13 other homes in Kharkiv were hit overnight on Friday, the city’s mayor said. A baby and a 14 year-old girl are among the injured, he added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha urged allies to increase pressure on Moscow and to take “more steps to strengthen Ukraine” in response to Russia’s latest attacks.
Six people were killed and 80 injured across Ukraine the previous night, when Russia attacked the country with more than 400 drones and nearly 40 missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as a “massive strike on cities and ordinary life” in “almost all of Ukraine”, including capital Kyiv.
Strikes also hit the northern city of Chernihiv, as well as Lutsk and Ternopil in the north-west, with Moscow claiming military sites were targeted.
It came days after Ukrainian drone strikes targeted Russian strategic warplanes at four air bases deep inside the country.
Ukraine’s security service SBU said at least 40 Russian aircraft were struck during its Operation Spider’s Web last Sunday.
Ukraine says 117 drones were used: they were first smuggled into Russia, then placed inside wooden cabins mounted on the back of lorries and concealed below remotely operated detachable roofs.
The lorries were then apparently driven to locations near the Russian air bases by drivers who were seemingly unaware of their cargo. The drones were then launched remotely.
Speaking to reporters late on Friday, US President Donald Trump said that the Ukrainians had given Russian President Vladimir Putin “a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night”.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
