Ukraine Hit by Largest Russian Air Attack Yet

Russia launched its largest air attack on Ukraine yesterday, hitting a key government building in Kyiv for the first time and killing at least three people, including a mother and her baby.

- Kate Connolly

The assault drew widespread condemnation, including a threat of further US sanctions.

The bombardment of the capital with a large number of drones and missiles injured at least 18 people and set scores of buildings on fire. Explosions were also reported in the cities of Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih. Authorities triggered a countrywide air-raid warning at 6.06am local time and later accused Russia of deliberately striking civilian targets.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called the attack ""a deliberate crime and prolongation of the war"" when ""real diplomacy could have begun long ago"

Donald Trump, who met the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for a peace summit in Alaska last month, said without elaboration that he was ready to move to a second stage of sanctions against Russia over the conflict. Trump has threatened to penalise countries that buy Russia's oil, but has so far only done so to India. He stepped back from previous warnings of tougher financial action against Moscow.

The Ukrainian air force said Moscow deployed 805 combat drones, nine Iskander-K cruise missiles and four Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Of these, four cruise missiles and 747 drones were intercepted by Ukrainian forces, authorities said.

Smoke was seen billowing from the roof of the Kyiv building that houses the offices of Ukraine's cabinet ministers, as firefighters fought flames pouring out of an upper storey, although it was not immediately clear whether the fire was the result of debris or a direct hit, which would mark an escalation in Russia's air campaign. Government buildings in the city centre have previously not been targeted by Russia.