In a post to Telegram this morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched about 500 drones and over 40 missiles in the overnight attack on Ukraine, killing four people and damaging civilian infrastructure.

He said that the main targets were Kyiv, and the Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Odesa regions.

Zelenskyy said “civilian infrastructure facilities”, a rubber factory and apartment buildings were all damaged in the “brutal strikes” seen in the Russian attack.

Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram:

This vile attack came as a virtual culmination of the UN general assembly week, and this is how Russia is making its real position known.

Moscow wants to continue to fight and kill and deserves only the harshest pressure in the world.

The Kremlin benefits from continuing this war and terror as long as there are energy funds and a shadow navy.

We will continue to strike back to deprive Russia of these opportunities to earn and force diplomacy.

Anyone who wants peace should support President Trump’s efforts and stop all Russian imports. The time for decisive action is long overdue, and we count on a strong response from the US, Europe, the G7, and the G20.

Jennifer Rankin

The EU has agreed to move forward with plans for a drone wall at the heart of its eastern defences as momentum grows for a €140bn loan to Ukraine based on Russian frozen assets.

After a meeting with ministers from 10 mostly central and eastern European member states plus Ukraine, the EU’s defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, said a drone wall to protect against incursions from the skies was an immediate priority and core element of the bloc’s eastern flank defences.

The issue has risen up the agenda after a spate of drone incursions in Denmark, Poland and Romania as well as the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets while Russia continues its deadly bombardment of Ukraine.

Kubilius said it was urgent to have an effective detection system, including radars and acoustic sensors, as well as capabilities to intercept and destroy drones.

The commissioner acknowledged the potential mismatch in cost involved in drone defence.

He said:

If you are using air, and air missiles from your air fighter to shoot the drone, then you are using … [a] missile which costs 1m to kill the drone which costs 10,000.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin criticised the suggestion of shooting down Russian military planes over Europe as “reckless” and “irresponsible” after Donald Trump suggested alliance members should do so.

You can read more here:

Poland’s military said it had scrambled fighter jets in its airspace and put ground-based air defence systems on high alert in response to the Russian strikes in Ukraine.

The moves were preventive and aimed at securing Polish airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas adjacent to Ukraine, the military said.

Poland also closed the airspace near its south-eastern cities of Lublin and Rzeszow until at least 0400 GMT on Sunday.

Tensions have mounted on Nato’s eastern flank with Russia in recent weeks.

More than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of 9-10 September, prompting Nato jets to down some of them and western officials to say Russia was testing the alliance’s readiness and resolve.

Estonia accused Russia of sending three fighter jets into its airspace last week, while Romania has come close to shooting down a drone.

The violations have prompted both Poland and Estonia to request this month that Nato open consultations under article 4 of the alliance’s treaty, which states that members will consult whenever the territory, political independence or security of any is threatened.

The talks do not automatically lead to any action, unlike Article 5 of the treaty, which states that Nato’s collective security guarantee, under which allies pledge that an attack on one member of the alliance constitutes an attack on them all.

Russia denied its planes entered Estonian airspace and said none of its drones targeted Poland.

Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Kyiv came under heavy bombardment early on Sunday in what independent monitors said was one of the biggest Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

At least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed in the attacks, according to Ukrainian officials.

Timur Tkachenko, head of the capital’s military administration, had said early reports pointed to “three fatalities”, “including a 12-year-old girl killed by Russians”.

Tkachenko has since revised the toll upwards to four, as a “body of the deceased has been found”. At least 10 people were also reported injured in the attack on Kyiv.

Drones hit several regions overnight, including the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where at least 16 people, including three children, were injured, authorities said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said hundreds of drones and missiles had been used in the widespread attacks around Ukraine.

“Russia launched another massive air attack on Ukrainian cities while people were sleeping,” Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister wrote in a post on X.

“Again, hundreds of drones and missiles, destroying residential buildings and causing civilian casualties,” he said.