Russia unleashed a massive volley of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities for the third consecutive day, with the latest strikes hitting a Kyiv apartment block, killing eight people, including a 12-year-old girl, authorities said Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the building was virtually destroyed, with 20 people still missing. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported more than 30 injured in the nine-story building.

Across Ukraine, Zelenskyy said 180 structures were damaged in the Russian strikes, 50 of them residential apartment blocks. Dozens were injured in the capital alone.

Strikes on the northeastern city of Kharkiv injured 28 people, and two were injured in the Black Sea port of Odesa. The cities of Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, and Sumy were also targeted.

Air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat described the attacks as “the largest strikes since the start of the full-scale invasion.” The onslaught followed a three-day ceasefire for the end of World War II, which Kyiv offered to extend but Russia rejected.

On Wednesday, Russia launched over 800 drones at Ukraine, killing at least six and injuring dozens, in what was described as one of the heaviest and longest attacks of the war.

Zelenskyy said more than 1,560 Russian drones have been fired at Ukrainian population centers since Wednesday. Despite stretched air defenses, he claimed an interception rate of over 93%.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the intensified Russian attacks, coinciding with Trump's meeting with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing, signal that Putin is not interested in ending the war. Zelenskyy had hoped Trump would raise the Ukraine war in talks with Xi, as China provides a critical economic lifeline for sanctions-isolated Russia.

In a shift, Hungary's new foreign minister, Anita Orban, strongly condemned the attacks and summoned the Russian ambassador. “We expect [Russia] to cease its aggression against civilians immediately,” she said.

Source: www.dw.com