30 killed in Russian airstrikes across Ukraine

Russia launched a massive air attack over Ukraine on Friday, killing at least 30 people and wounding scores across the country, reports AFP.

Schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and blocks of flats were among the buildings hit in the barrage, said Ukrainian officials.

The attacks-during which a Russian missile passed through Polish airspace - triggered international condemnation and fresh promises of military support to Ukraine, which has been fighting off invading Russian troops since late February 2022.

"Today Russia hit us with almost everything it has in its arsenal," President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Ukraine's military estimated Russia had launched 158 missiles and drones on Ukraine and 114 of them had been destroyed.

Air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told AFP that this was a "record number" of missiles and "the most massive missile attack" of the war, excluding the early days of constant bombardment.

Russia tried to overwhelm Ukraine's air defences across most major cities, launching a wave of Shahed attack drones followed by missiles of numerous types fired from planes and from Russian-controlled territory.