Moscow [Russia], May 26: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has alleged that the US's "silence" after recent Russian attacks is encouraging President Vladimir Putin, following Moscow's largest aerial attack yet.
The overnight attack saw Russia launch the highest number of drones and missiles in a single night since the war began.
At least 12 people, including three children, were killed and dozens more were injured in widespread strikes across Ukraine.
The attack came a day after one of the heaviest assaults on the capital, Kyiv, since the start of the war.
Zelensky warned that Russia's "brutality cannot be stopped" without "strong pressure on the Russian leadership."
Ukraine's Air Force said that since 20:40 on Saturday local time (17:40 GMT), Russia had carried out strikes using 367 missiles of various types, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and drones.
The air force said it had shot down 45 cruise missiles and destroyed 266 UAVs, with most regions in Ukraine affected and hits recorded in 22 locations.
Rescuers were working in more than 30 cities and villages, Zelensky said.
Of the people killed, three in the Zhytomyr region to the west of Kyiv were children - all siblings, according to Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister, Mariana Betsa.
In a statement on X, she identified them as eight-year-old Stanislav, Tamara, 12, and Roman, 17.
Despite mounting international calls, Russia has continued to intensify its aerial campaign, showing no sign of halting its offensive and ignoring calls for a ceasefire.
In a pointed message to US President Donald Trump, who has previously claimed that Putin is interested in ending the war, Zelensky said: "The world may go on vacation, but the war continues, despite weekends and weekdays.
"This cannot be ignored. America's silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin."
When Zelensky refers to "American silence", he likely means the further sanctions Washington has so far resisted imposing on Moscow for its continued invasion.
His argument is that Russia's war machine is not being starved sufficiently, and that the Kremlin is not being incentivised enough to meaningfully engage in ceasefire talks.
Trump has said he wants to use more of a carrot than stick when it comes to convincing Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, but, aside from direct Ukraine-Russia talks and further prisoner of war exchanges, there has been little to no progress on bringing a pause in fighting closer, despite the US president's growing impatience.
Despite Kyiv's European allies preparing further sanctions for Russia, the US has said it will either continue trying to broker these peace talks, or "walk away" if progress does not follow.
With Moscow's continued, maximalist demands for peace, Putin deciding not to show up at recent ceasefire negotiations in Turkey, and 48 hours of heavy aerial bombardments for Ukraine, it is hard to see what the Kremlin would have to do in order for the White House to adopt a tougher stance.
Russia's defence ministry said it had inflicted damage on targets including military airfields, ammunition depots and electric warfare stations, claiming damage across 142 areas.
According to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, 13 regions were attacked, with more than 60 people injured, 80 residential buildings damaged, and 27 fires recorded.
Klymenko called it a "combined, ruthless strike aimed at civilians".
Two women, aged 85 and 56, were killed after a house in Kupiansk was hit, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional office.
In the Kyiv region, four people were killed and 16 injured, including three children, DSNS said.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
This includes Crimea - Ukraine's southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Russia's previous largest drone attack came just a week ago when 273 drones were launched on the central Kyiv region and Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the east, according to Ukraine's air force.
Russia is able not only to just manufacture drones at a faster rate, but they are also evolving. Shahed drones are now being packed with more explosives and improved technology to evade detection.
Ukraine said the 13 regions hit by strikes on Sunday were Kyiv and the capital's wider region, as well as the regions of Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy and Poltava.
In Kyiv, local officials reported 11 injuries, multiple fires and damage to residential buildings, including a dormitory.
A BBC colleague messaged to say a block of flats was destroyed, just a five minute drive from where she lived.
The strikes came as the capital marked its annual Kyiv Day holiday.
In Russia, the defence ministry said 110 Ukrainian drones were destroyed and intercepted over 12 Russian regions and the Crimea peninsula between midnight and 07:00 local time (05:00 BST).
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 12 drones heading towards the capital were shot down.
He added that emergency services crews were deployed to assess damage caused by falling drone debris.
In the Tula region, just south of Moscow, drone wreckage crashed in the courtyard of a residential building, smashing windows in a number of apartments, local governor Dmitriy Milyaev said.
No-one was injured, he added.
Sunday was also the third and final day of a major prisoner of war exchange between the two sides. After this weekend, there is even less hope it will lead to further co-operation.
On Friday, Ukraine and Russia each handed over 390 soldiers and civilians in the biggest prisoner exchange since Russia launched its full-scale assault in February 2022.
On Saturday, Zelensky announced that another 307 Ukrainian prisoners had returned home as part of an exchange deal with the Kremlin.
And on Sunday, Ukraine and Russia each confirmed 303 of their soldiers had returned home - bringing the total over the three days to 1,000 prisoners each.
The swap followed the first face-to-face talks between the two sides in three years, which took place in Turkey.
Earlier this week, Trump and Putin had a two-hour phone call to discuss a US-proposed Ukraine ceasefire deal.
Trump said he believed the call had gone "very well", and added that Russia and Ukraine will "immediately start" negotiations toward a ceasefire and "an end to the war".
However, Putin has only said Russia would work with Ukraine to craft a "memorandum" on a "possible future peace", and has not accepted a 30-day ceasefire.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
