Deadly Russian strikes pound Ukraine for second day

Russia has fired a wave of attack drones and missiles at Ukraine that killed at least four people, authorities said after the second night of heavy strikes across the war-battered nation.

The overnight barrage came on Tuesday a day after the Kremlin launched one of its largest-ever aerial attacks on Ukraine, which targeted energy facilities and killed several people.

Ukraine's air force said on Tuesday it downed half of the 10 missiles and 60 of the 81 Iranian-designed attack drones launched several regions of Russia and from Moscow-annexed Crimea.

"Unfortunately, despite the effective work of our air defence systems, four people were killed and 16 were wounded," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.

He said rescue work was ongoing at the impact sites and vowed a response to the attacks.

"Crimes against humanity cannot be committed with impunity," he said.

Journalists in the capital Kiev reported air raid sirens echo over the city throughout the night as well as an explosion, likely from air defence systems.

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities issued new air raid alerts across the country.

Repeat hotel attack

Local authorities said earlier on Tuesday that two people had been killed in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region and two in the central city of Kryvyi Rig after a missile struck a hotel.

The hotel strike comes just days after a team working for the Reuters news agency were hit by a missile in their hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, killing a safety advisor working with the agency.

The Russian attacks on Monday triggered widespread blackouts and spurred condemnation from Ukraine's allies in Europe and the United States.

Russia said the attack had targeted infrastructure linked to the Ukrainian military. NATO member Poland said its airspace was violated during the barrage, probably by a drone.

Since February 2022, Russia has launched repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including punishing strikes on energy facilities.

In Kiev, Ukraine's electricity grid operator said on Tuesday that emergency blackouts would be applied throughout the day to reduce pressure on the grid following the fresh attacks that damaged energy infrastructure nationwide.

"Ukraine's power system is currently recovering from nine massive Russian attacks, with a power deficit and emergency and scheduled repairs underway at power facilities," Ukrenergo said in a statement, urging Ukrainians to reduce their electricity consumption.

The bombardment comes as Ukrainian forces are pushing an offensive in Russia's border region of Kursk, a surprise operation that has seen Kiev gain swathes of territory in three weeks.