First major bombardment since an air attack on Ukraine’s capital claimed 21 lives last month

At least four people were killed when Russia unleashed a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine overnight into Sunday, with the capital city of Kyiv suffering the heaviest assault.

This is the first major bombardment since an air attack on Kyiv killed at least 21 people last month.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration, confirmed Sunday's casualties via Telegram, and said 10 others were wounded in the attack that targeted civilian areas across the city. A 12-year-old girl was among the dead.

"The Russians have restarted the child death counter," Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.

Thick black smoke could be seen rising from a blast near the city centre.

The strikes that began overnight and continued after dawn also targeted residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a medical facility and a kindergarten, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who also said damage was reported at more than 20 locations across the capital.

At Kyiv's central train station, passengers arrived to the crackle of anti-aircraft gunfire and the low buzz of attack drones. Mostly women, they waited quietly in a platform underpass until the air raid alert ended. Parents checked the news on their phones while children played online games.

"The sky has turned black again," said one woman at the station, who gave only her first name, Erika. "It's happening a lot."  

At a multi-story residential building heavily damaged by a drone attack, a large section of the upper floors was gutted and windows blown out. Emergency services personnel, including firefighters with an extended ladder truck, used power saws to clear the debris. Piles of glass littered nearby sidewalks as building residents, some looking shaken, sat on benches.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the scope of the assault as involving "hundreds of drones and missiles." "We must maximise the cost of further escalation for Russia," Sybiha said.

We won't attack Europe: Lavrov

United Nations: As new tensions rise between Russia and NATO powers, Moscow's top diplomat insisted to world leaders on Saturday that his nation doesn't intend to attack Europe but will mount a "decisive response" to any aggression. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke at the UN General Assembly after weeks in which unauthorised flights into NATO's airspace - intrusions the alliance blames on Russia - have raised alarm around Europe, particularly after NATO jets downed drones over Poland and Estonia said Russian fighter jets flew into its territory and lingered for 12 minutes.