Russian strikes kill nine across Ukraine, wound dozens

Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least nine people and wounded dozens across Ukraine on Tuesday, authorities said, days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was preparing a massive new attack.

Russia has struck Ukraine almost daily since its 2022 invasion, often drawing retaliation from Kyiv while talks to end the war remain stalled.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 656 drones and 73 missiles overnight, according to Reuters.

Explosions were heard in Kyiv, where local officials said ballistic missiles started fires, cut power in several districts and trapped people in damaged buildings.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people were killed and at least 58 others, including two children, were wounded in the attack.

Residents ran to shelters with bags and blankets as smoke rose from the city center, AFP journalists saw.

"The enemy is striking with ballistic missiles," said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's City Military Administration.

Olha Mudra, who was at the site of one strike with her six-year-old daughter, told Reuters the scene looked like an apocalypse. "Everything was covered with debris, everything in smoke, you could see nothing," she said near a destroyed apartment building.

In Dnipro, five people were killed and 25 wounded, three of them seriously, said regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha.

Ten people, including a child, were wounded in Kharkiv, Mayor Igor Terekhov said.

A Ukrainian drone killed one person in Russia's Kursk region, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

Another drone started a fire at an oil refinery in Russia's southwestern city of Krasnodar, its operational headquarters said.

Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine had intelligence about a new massive Russian strike and urged people to heed air alerts.

He has repeated calls for allies to supply and finance Patriot missiles to counter Russian ballistic attacks.

Ukraine has also increased strikes on Russian territory and occupied areas in response to the daily Russian bombardments.

Russia launched a record 8,150 long-range drones at Ukraine in May, up 24 percent from April, an AFP analysis of air force data showed.

Kyiv intercepted about 90 percent of the drones and missiles fired in May, according to the same data.