Russian attacks kill 2, wound 13 in Ukraine; Zelensky says its biggest air attacks

 Russia sent waves of drones and missiles in an attack on two Ukrainian cities early on Tuesday that killed two people and wounded at least thirteen others, Ukraine officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russia launched one of its biggest air attacks on Kyiv overnight, using 315 drones and seven missiles in strikes that also hit other parts of the country.

"Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace," Zelensky wrote on X.

A maternity hospital and residential buildings in the center of the southern port city of Odesa were damaged in the attack, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. Two people were killed and nine injured in the city, according to a statement from the regional prosecutor's office.

A local resident looks at a burned building following drones strike on Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday. AFP

Four people were injured in the attack on the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Associated Press journalists heard explosions and the buzzing of drones around the city for hours.

The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases.

Plumes of smoke were visible in Kyiv as air defense forces worked to shoot down drones and missiles Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian residents took shelter and slept in metro stations during the hourslong attack. Nina Nosivets, 32, and her 8-month-old son Levko were among them.

A view shows a burning apartment building after it was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, on Tuesday. Reuters

"I just try not to think about all this, silently curled up like a mouse, wait until it all passes, the attacks. Distract the child somehow because its probably the hardest thing for him to bear," she said.

Krystyna Semak, a 37-year-old Kyiv resident, said the explosions frightened her and she ran to the metro at 2 a.m. with her rug.

Russia has been launching a record-breaking number of drones and missiles targeting Ukraine while the two countries continue to swap prisoners of war, the only tangible outcome of recent direct peace talks held in Istanbul. A ceasefire, long sought by Kyiv, remains elusive.

Rescuers and members of funeral service carry the body of a resident killed in apartment building during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, on Tuesday. Reuters

In Kyiv, fires broke out in at least four districts after debris from shot down drones fell on the roofs of residential buildings and warehouses, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.

Vasyl Pesenko, 25, stood in his kitchen, damaged in the attack.

"I was lying in bed, as always hoping that these Shaheds (drones) would fly past me, and I heard that Shahed (that hit the house),” he said. "I thought that it would fly away, but it flew closer and closer and everything blew away.”

Agencies