Ukraine launches more than 500 drones at Russia, killing 4

A huge wave of more than 500 Ukrainian drones attacked Russia overnight, killing four people in the Moscow region, authorities said on Sunday.

Air defences shot down 556 drones in more than a dozen regions, including Moscow, Russia's defence ministry said.

"A woman was killed as a result of a UAV hitting a private house. One more person is trapped under rubble," the Moscow region's Governor Andrey Vorobyov posted on Telegram, adding that the early morning attack also claimed the lives of two men.

"Since 3 o'clock in the morning, air defence forces have been repelling a large-scale UAV attack on the capital region," he said, adding four people were wounded and infrastructure facilities had been targeted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had vowed on Friday to launch more retaliatory strikes, a day after a Russian attack on Kyiv killed 24 people.

Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building damaged during yesterday's Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday. Reuters

Within Russia's capital, local authorities reported that air defence systems had intercepted at least 74 drones overnight, wounding 12 people.

"Minor damage has been recorded at the sites where debris fell," Mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted on Telegram.

A total of 120 drones were intercepted in the past 24 hours, he said.

While the capital region is often subjected to drone attacks, the city of Moscow is less frequently targeted.

Moscow and Kyiv have traded attacks following a prisoner swap and the expiration of a three-day truce on Tuesday.

In response to daily bombardments by the Russian military for more than four years, Ukraine has regularly struck within Russia, insisting that it targets both military and energy sites.

Agence France-Presse