At least seven people were killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine overnight, including five in the central city of Dnipro, where officials said an apartment building was hit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest attack lasted “practically all night”, while rescue workers were still searching for survivors under rubble in Dnipro on Saturday morning.
British jets were scrambled from Romania during the heavy attack when Russian drones were detected near the border, though the UK Ministry of Defence rejected a report it had shot some down.
Meanwhile, Ukraine carried out some of its longest-distance drone strikes deep inside Russian territory.
In Yekaterinburg, almost 1,000 miles (1,600km) from Ukraine’s border, the governor said six people were injured when a building was struck – while in nearby Chelyabinsk, a local leader said drones targeting an industrial facility were intercepted.
Russian missiles and drones also targeted the northern city of Chernihiv, where officials said two people were killed, as well as Odesa and Kharkiv.
Ukrainian authorities said they repelled the vast majority of the more than 600 Russian drones, which appears to have been the largest attack in several days.
Zelensky wrote on social media: “The Russians’ tactics have not changed: strike drones, cruise missiles, and a significant amount of ballistics.
“Most of the targets are ordinary infrastructure in cities. Residential buildings, energy, and enterprises have been damaged.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it had shot down 127 drones over more than a dozen regions.
The department also said it had taken control of Bochkove, a village in the Kharkiv region, on Saturday morning, according to state-linked news agency Tass.
The settlement is close to Ukraine’s northern border with Russia, where invading forces have made repeated attempts to push further south towards the city of Kharkiv.
Ukrainian authorities have not commented on Russia’s claim to have gained control of the village, nor has BBC News been able to independently verify it.
Elsewhere, Romania’s defence ministry said it was investigating “the fall of an object” on its territory close to the Ukrainian border during the Russian attack.
It also clarified a previous statement which incorrectly suggested that British jets based in the country had shot down Russian drones, which would have been the first incident of its kind.–BBC
