Two are killed in another wave of Russian strikes on Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday urged Ukraine's allies to speed up new sanctions on Russia after another huge wave of strikes on Kyiv killed two people, including a police officer, and left 23 wounded.

- Luke Harding

"Sanctions must be imposed faster, and pressure on Russia must be strong enough that they truly feel the consequences of their terror," the Ukrainian president said on social media. He accused Moscow of "an obvious escalation", with "constant strikes" and hundreds of Shahed drones launched every night.

Ukraine's air defence force said Moscow had sent 400 drones and 18 missiles across the country in the early hours. Kyiv was the main target. Other regions, including Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv in the north and north-east also came under attack.

For several hours, loud booms and explosions were heard across the Ukrainian capital. Air defence units tried to shoot down a wave of kamikaze drones, nicknamed "mopeds" because of their noisy mechanical buzzing.

Residents sheltered in the metro, in underground passages and in basements and bathrooms. The capital woke up, exhausted and groggy, on Thursday to a pall of smoke in the sky.

"Everything was covered with smoke when I walked my dog in the morning," one resident said.

The latest assault came a day after Moscow pummelled Ukraine with its largest missile and drone attack in three years of full-scale war. There was also a big raid on Kyiv last week.