Ukraine’s main government building in Kyiv has been hit for the first time in the war during Russian attacks, the Ukrainian prime minister says.
Yulia Svyrydenko said the building’s roof and upper floors were damaged “due to an enemy attack” and firefighters were extinguishing the blaze.
At least three people were killed in strikes.
In Kyiv, a baby and a young woman died after a nine-storey residential building was hit in the Svyatoshynsky district, with rescuers looking for a third body, authorities said. A woman was also killed in Novopavlivka village, officials said.
Ukraine’s air force reported a record number of drones and missiles were launched by Russia in the attack – more than 800.
According to the air force, nine missiles and 56 drones hit 37 locations, and the downed wreckage fell at eight locations.
The Kyiv government building that was hit, also known as the cabinet of ministers building, houses the offices of Ukraine’s main ministers.
Early on Sunday morning, the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford and team saw a large column of smoke rising into the sky from just behind the Maidan, Independence Square.
They then heard and saw two Russian cruise missiles moving at very high speed, before another explosion.
“The Russians are deliberately hitting civilian facilities,” Kyiv’s military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said, urging residents to remain in shelters.
Shortly afterwards, Kyiv’s mayor Vitaly Klitschko said a government building was on fire in the central Pecherskyi district. He said a downed Russian drone likely caused the blaze.
“Firefighters are working on the scene,” the mayor added.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, 17 people were injured in a strike on the city of Zaporizhzhia, when multiple buildings including a nursery and people’s homes were hit, regional administration head Ivan Fedorov said.
Outside the city, a woman was killed and a man is still missing after a Russian glide bomb hit the Novopavlivka village, Fedorov said.
Russia also attacked Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown in central Ukraine, where three infrastructure facilities were hit. Air raid warnings were activated overnight for all of the country’s regions.
Kyiv officials said several multi-storey residential buildings in the western Svyatoshynkyi and south-eastern Darnytskyi districts were partially destroyed and continued to be ablaze after direct hits.
Russia has not commented on the reported drone strikes across Ukraine.
In a statement, the Russian defence ministry said its air defence forces shot down or intercepted 69 Ukrainian drones in a number of Russian regions.
Svyrydenko called for tougher sanctions on Russia and stepped-up weapons deliveries.
Earlier this week, Putin rejected Western proposals for a “reassurance force” in Ukraine the day after any ceasefire comes into place, following a Paris summit aimed at finalising plans for security guarantees.
French President Emmanuel Macron said 26 of Ukraine’s allies had formally committed to deploying troops “by land, sea or air” to help provide security the moment fighting was brought to a halt. He gave no further details.
Putin sought to quash the allies’ initiative, warning that any troops deployed to Ukraine would be “legitimate targets”.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory – including the southern Crimea peninsula illegally annexed in 2014.
Additional reporting by Vitaliy Shevchenko
