Putin unleashes hell: Russia bombards Ukraine with 200 drones and missiles in ‘one of the largest bombings of the war’ as Zelensky calls for European warplanes to shoot down missiles

Russia this morning carried out one of the most brutal bombardments of Ukraine in the war so far, hitting Kiev and other cities with waves of drones and missiles, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for help from European fighter jets.

In the early hours of the morning, nationwide air raid sirens were sounded as Ukrainian air defenses swung into action to shoot down a flurry of drones. The drones were launched as Moscow sought revenge for Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk region.

The attacks kept coming, and hours later the Ukrainian air force warned that Russia had deployed nearly a dozen Tu-95 and six Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, which fired salvo after salvo of missiles during rush hour on Monday morning.

MiG-31K fighter jets, capable of firing the fearsome supersonic Kinzhal missiles, and four naval vessels were also involved in the bombardment.

The attacks killed at least three people and wounded more, with casualties reported in the northwestern city of Lutsk, eastern Dnipro and the southern Zaporizhia regions.

The death toll is expected to rise sharply as rescuers begin sifting through the rubble.

After the attacks, Zelensky urged European leaders to allow their air forces to shoot down drones and missiles over Ukraine.

“In our different regions in Ukraine, we could do much more to protect lives if the aviation of our European neighbors would cooperate with our F-16s and with our air defense,” he said in a social media post.

An apartment complex has been destroyed in the northwestern city of Lutsk, reportedly killing one person

Video shows explosions, reportedly in Kiev, as Russia carried out bombing raid on Ukraine this morning

An explosion is seen as a Russian projectile, believed to be a drone, crashes into a building in Lutsk

Smoke rises above a building in western Ukraine during one of Russia’s airstrikes on the country since the war began

Thundering explosions were reported in Kiev, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lutsk and Zaporizhzhia. Pictured: Smoke trails after an attack on Dnipro

A visibly angry Putin is seen in a muffled video of a weekend meeting with top military leaders

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed that more than half of the country’s regions – 15 in total – had been hit by missiles and drones. Thunderous explosions were also heard in the capital.

This morning heavy explosions rang out in Kiev, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Khmelnytskyi, Kremenchuk, Vinnytsia, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivskofficials and eyewitnesses reported, but the extent of the damage is still unknown.

An apartment building has been destroyed in Lutsk. Rescue teams are now evacuating survivors, the city’s mayor said.

Ukraine’s grid operator Ukrenergo has ordered emergency power supplies across the country as parts of Kiev, Odessa and the president’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih remain without power. Water supplies in Kiev and elsewhere have also been affected.

Zelensky said Russia had carried out attacks on Ukraine with more than 100 missiles and about 100 drones. He implored Western partners to use their own airstrikes to protect his country from further Russian attacks.

“It was one of the largest attacks – a combined one. More than a hundred missiles of different types and about a hundred ‘shaheds’,” Zelensky said in a video message on Telegram, referring to attack drones.

‘Like most Russian attacks before it, this one was equally insidious, targeting critical civilian infrastructure. The energy sector sustained significant damage, but in every area affected by power outages, restoration efforts are already underway.

“Our defenders cannot be limited in their weapons when Russia deploys its entire arsenal, including ‘shaheds’ and ballistic missiles from North Korea. America, Britain, France and our other partners have the power to help us stop this terror. The time for decisive action is now,” he said.

Meanwhile, NATO ordered its fighter jets to fly over Poland and other places on the alliance’s eastern border as the far-reaching attack took place.

The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces reported on X that Polish and allied aircraft had been activated after Russia carried out the attack, which also targeted regions in western Ukraine and near the Polish border.

Rescue workers in a building in Lutsk after it was hit by a Russian drone strike

Video identified by Russian Telegram channels SHOT and Mash as a high-rise residential building in the city, with a damaged side and multiple blown-out windows on three floors

The Ukrainians have been expecting a major Russian missile attack for some time.

The US Embassy last week warned of an increased risk of attacks around Ukrainian Independence Day, which Ukraine celebrated on Saturday.

Russia carried out two waves of drone strikes earlier on Monday, the Ukrainian military reported. Initial information said there were no damage or casualties before the major strike later in the morning.

About 10 drones were destroyed as they approached the city in the Kiev region at around 02:30 GMT, according to Serhiy Popko, head of the Kiev military administration.

Ukraine itself has stepped up long-range drone strikes on Russia in an attempt to attack Moscow, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“The desire to destroy our energy will cost the Russians dearly: their infrastructure,” Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, said on Telegram, apparently vowing retaliatory measures.

Moscow claimed today that a Ukrainian drone tried to attack an oil refinery deep inside the country over the weekend, in the city of Yaroslavl, north of Moscow.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense systems shot down 20 Ukrainian drones, including three over the Kursk region, where Zelensky’s forces raided nearly three weeks ago.

A residential complex in the southwestern city of Saratov was also damaged over the weekend by falling debris from drones destroyed by Russian air defense systems, regional governor Roman Basurgin reported via the messaging app Telegram.

A residential complex in the city of Saratov was damaged by falling debris from drones destroyed by Russian air defense systems, regional governor Roman Basurgin said.

Reuters journalists were staying at the Hotel Sapphire when the Russian ballistic missile Iskander-M struck on Sunday

Ukrainian rescuers take a break during a search and rescue operation among the rubble of a destroyed hotel after an attack in the city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region on Sunday

A video posted on Telegram by Russian news channel SHOT showed what they identified as a high-rise residential building in the city, with a damaged side and several windows on three floors blown out.

In English, the top floor of a residential building was damaged.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians, saying their strikes are aimed at destroying infrastructure vital to the other’s war effort.