Russia fires 122 missiles and 36 drones in what Ukraine calls the biggest aerial barrage of the war

Russia launched 122 missiles and dozens of drones against Ukrainian targets officials said on Friday killing at least 27 civilians across the country in what an air force official called the biggest aerial barrage of the warAt least 144 people were injured and an unknown number were buried under rubble during the roughly 18hour onslaught Ukrainian officials said A maternity hospital apartment blocks and schools were among the buildings reported damaged across UkraineThe Ukrainian air force intercepted most of the ballistic and cruise missiles and the Shahedtype drones overnight said Ukraines military chief Valerii ZaluzhnyiWestern officials and analysts had recently warned that Russia limited its cruise missile strikes for months in an apparent effort to build up stockpiles for massive strikes during the winter hoping to break the Ukrainians spiritThe result was the most massive aerial attack since Russias fullscale invasion in February 2022 Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his official Telegram channelIt topped the previous biggest assault in November 2022 when Russia launched 96 missiles and this years biggest with 81 missiles on March 9 according to air force recordsFighting along the front line is largely bogged down by winter weather after Ukraines summer counteroffensive failed to make a significant breakthrough along the roughly 1000kilometer 620mile line of contactUkrainian officials have urged the countrys Western allies to provide it with more air defenses Their appeals have come as signs of war fatigue strain efforts to keep support in placeAlso read Jaishankar says relationship between India and Russia much deeperBritish Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the attack should stir the world to further action in support of UkraineldquoThese widespread attacks on Ukraines cities show Russian President Vladimir Putin will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of eradicating freedom and democracyrdquo Sunak said on social media platform X formerly TwitterldquoWe must continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takesrdquoUkrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the scale of the attack should wake people up to Ukraines continuing needsToday millions of Ukrainians awoke to the loud sound of explosions he wrote on XldquoI wish those sounds of explosions in Ukraine could be heard all around the world In all major capitals headquarters and parliaments which are currently debating further support for UkrainerdquoIn Boyarka near the capital Kyiv the debris of a shotdown drone fell on a home and started a fireAndrii Korobka 47 said his mother was sleeping next to the room where the wreckage landed and was taken to hospital suffering from shockldquoThe war goes on and it can happen to any house even if you think yours will never be affectedrdquo Korobka saidTetiana Sakhnenko lives next door and said neighbours ran with buckets of water to put out the blaze but it spread quickly Its so scary she saidThe attack hit six cities and reports of deaths and damage came in from across the countryIn the eastern city of Dnipro four maternity hospital patients were rescued from a fire five people were killed and 20 injured officials saidIn Odesa on the southern coast falling drone wreckage started a fire at a multistory residential building according to the regional head Oleh Kiper Two people were killed and 15 including two children were injured he saidThe mayor of the western city of Lviv Andrii Sadovyi said one person was killed there with three schools and a kindergarten damaged in a drone attack Local emergency services said 30 people were injuredSeveral dozen missiles were launched towards Kyiv with more than 30 intercepted said Serhii Popko head of the Kyiv military administration Three people were killed there he saidIn northeastern Ukraine Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city was subjected to at least three waves of aerial attacks that included S300 and Kh21 missile launches One person was killed and at least nine injured officials saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever