Russia's vast daytime drone attack kills three in Ukraine

KYIV:

A rare Russian daytime drone attack on Ukraine killed at least three people, wounded 30 and set a building in the centuries-old centre of western Lviv aflame on Tuesday, officials said, following an overnight bombardment that killed five people across the country.

Over 400 drones were launched at Ukraine in the middle of the day, Ukraine's air force said, an abrupt change from Russia's usual tactic of launching similarly massive aerial attacks at night during its more than four-year-old war.

In another western Ukrainian city, Ivano-Frankivsk, two people were killed and four injured, according to regional Governor Svitlana Onyshchuk.

Air defences also engaged drones throughout the day near Kyiv.

Ukraine's air force posted warnings on social media of drones overhead in more than a dozen areas across the country.

Officials in Vinnytsia and Ternopil, both several hundred kilometres from the frontline, said explosions were heard in their cities and told residents to remain in shelters.

Overnight attack

The daytime strikes came after a wave of overnight strikes that killed five people across Ukraine and caused disruption to power supplies in Moldova. Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 34 missiles and 392 drones overnight and that 25 missiles and 365 drones had been downed or neutralised.

Two people were killed and 12 injured, including a five-year-old child, in the attack near the eastern city of Poltava, a regional official said.