Star Metro - 'Nightmare': Russian attacks kill 23 across Ukraine

Authorities in the Ukrainian capital had warned that Russia was preparing the latest in a string of massive deadly strikes that have escalated the four-year-old war and dimmed slim hopes for peace.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones through the night into Tuesday morning, adding that 54 drones and 33 missiles had penetrated its multi-layered air defence system.

Sixteen of those killed were in the southeastern city of Dnipro, where a four-storey apartment building collapsed, officials announced. Two children were among the dead, and 42 people were wounded.

Seven people were killed in Kyiv, where around 50 people were also wounded, according to the capital's mayor, Vitali Klitschko.

AFP journalists in the capital heard air raid sirens wail before a series of loud explosions that lasted through the night into early Tuesday sent residents with bags and blankets rushing to shelter in crowded metro stations.

Anastasia, whose residential building was damaged in the attack, said she spent a "loud" and "terrifying" night huddled in her bathroom.

- 'Nightmare' -

"All the windows were blown out completely; there are no windows at all. It wasn't just one explosion here all night. The night here was just a nightmare," she told AFP.

"It was a brutal strike," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a late Tuesday address, warning that Russia may follow up that same night with another assault from the skies.

"Unfortunately, the current level of supplies for our air defence does not allow us to shoot down a significant share of the missiles," he said, giving a toll of 130 wounded overall in Tuesday's blitz.

"We are preparing additional measures for our counteraction," Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian leader used the attack to make a new appeal for military support from the United States and from Europe.

"All partners together, everyone in Europe, must continue working so that there are (we obtain) missiles for our air defence," he said.

The French foreign ministry denounced Moscow's "utter contempt" for peace efforts while the United Nations said Moscow's "inflammatory rhetoric and escalation of attacks should stop".

Moscow has bombarded Ukraine almost daily since launching its invasion in February 2022, a war that is now the bloodiest on European soil since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced.

Russia said that it had carried out a huge strike, including with hypersonic missiles, targeting Ukraine's military-industrial complex.

It denies that its forces target civilians.

Kyiv's metro service said more than 40,000 residents had sheltered in various underground stations throughout the assault -- the highest number in years.

A maternity hospital with newborns and women in labour was struck in the southern port city of Odesa, authorities said, adding there were no casualties.

AFP journalists saw explosions and huge plumes of smoke billowing across Kyiv's skyline at dawn on Tuesday, while rescue workers cleared debris beneath residential buildings gutted in the attack.

Fifteen people, including a child, were wounded in the eastern city of Kharkiv that lies near the Russian border, according to the mayor, Igor Terekhov.

- 'Protect your lives' -

The intense strikes have dulled already distant peace prospects, particularly with the White House distracted by fighting with Iran.

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told reporters in the Estonian capital of Tallinn that Kyiv was still hoping for a long-awaited visit from US envoys to her country to restart negotiations.

Ukraine also struck targets in Russia.

One person was killed in the Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

An earlier warning by Moscow to foreigners, including diplomats, to leave Kyiv had sparked an outcry including at the United Nations.

Despite the uptick in Russian long-range strikes, Moscow's forces have been struggling to make meaningful gains across the front line.

Last month, Ukraine recaptured more territory than it lost to Russian forces for the second straight month, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.

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D.Ch. Nadeau--SMC