KYIV — Russia launched hundreds of attack drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine overnight into Saturday, killing at least five civilians and wounding dozens more in the Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odesa regions, Ukrainian regional authorities said. The Ukrainian Air Force said its air defences had intercepted most of the incoming weapons, but several ballistic missiles got through.

Regional governors reported damage to apartment blocks, private homes and energy facilities in several cities. Emergency crews from Ukraine's State Emergency Service worked through the morning to pull residents from rubble. The Kharkiv regional governor said children were among the injured.

The attack came days after a senior Ukrainian diplomat described the country's need for Patriot interceptors as 'dire'. The diplomat warned that recently announced supplies were arriving too slowly to blunt Russia's ballistic missile campaign. Kyiv has repeatedly said that only the US-made Patriot system can reliably stop Russia's Iskander and Kinzhal missiles.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that the strikes showed Moscow had no interest in ending the war. He urged the United States and European partners to accelerate deliveries of air-defence systems and interceptors before winter deepens. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out a 'massive strike' on Ukrainian military-industrial and energy targets.

Russia has intensified long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure through the autumn, stretching the country's limited stock of interceptors. Ukrainian military commanders have warned that each large barrage forces hard choices over which cities and power plants to defend.