Russia fired a wave of attack drones and missiles at Ukraine that killed at least four people, authorities said on Tuesday, after a second night of heavy strikes across the war-battered nation.
Within hours of the barrage, Ukraine claimed fresh advances in its surprise assault on Russia鈥檚 Kursk border region and reported taking nearly 600 Russian troops as prisoners in the past three weeks.
鈥楥rimes against humanity cannot be committed with impunity,鈥� president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media, reporting on Tuesday four killed and 16 wounded.
Meanwhile, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke with US president Joe Biden about his visit to Ukraine, with the White House voicing hope that he embraced Kyiv鈥檚 view on ending Russia鈥檚 invasion.
Modi, who angered Ukrainians by hugging Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow recently, visited Kyiv on Friday and told Zelensky that 鈥榥o problem should be solved on the battlefield.鈥�
Speaking to Biden by telephone, Modi 鈥榬eiterated India鈥檚 consistent position in favour of dialogue and diplomacy and expressed full support for an early return of peace and stability,鈥� an Indian foreign ministry statement said.
Asked about Biden鈥檚 response, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the United States supported all countries listening to Zelensky鈥檚 perspectives on ending the war.
India said that Modi and Biden also discussed Bangladesh, where former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a close ally of New Delhi, resigned and fled earlier this month after mass protests against her increasingly authoritarian rule.
AFP journalists in the capital Kyiv heard air raid sirens echo over the city throughout the night as well as an explosion, likely from air defence systems.
Monday鈥檚 attack was one of Moscow鈥檚 largest-ever on Ukraine, prompting Kyiv push for allies鈥� permission to use Western-provided weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
Local authorities said earlier 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鈥檚 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 invading in February 2022, Russia has launched repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including punishing strikes on energy facilities.
Ukraine鈥檚 electricity grid operator said 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.
Local Ukrainian authorities said separately that three civilians had been killed in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions in Russian drone and artillery attacks.
Ukrainian forces have been pushing their offensive in Kursk, a surprise operation that has seen Kyiv gain swathes of territory in three weeks.
The governor of Russia鈥檚 Belgorod region, which borders Kursk and Ukraine, said Tuesday he was aware of reports that the Ukrainian army had tried to cross the border.
鈥業nformation has emerged that the enemy is trying to break through the border of the Belgorod region,鈥� its governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
鈥楢ccording to the Russian defence ministry, the situation on the border remains difficult but under control,鈥� he said on social media.
Zelensky said late Monday that Ukraine鈥檚 cross-border incursion launched on August 6 was partially to 鈥榗ompensate鈥� for Kyiv鈥檚 inability to strike deeper into Russian territory.
He has been appealing to Ukraine鈥檚 allies to allow his forces to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russian territory as part of efforts to thwart more aerial bombardments.
Ukraine鈥檚 army chief Oleksandr Syrsky said his forces had made fresh gains in Kursk recently and now controlled 100 towns and villages across 1,294 square km.
He also claimed that Russian forces had redeployed some 30,000 troops to help fend off the Kursk incursion, and said Ukraine had taken 594 POWs in the weeks of the incursion 鈥� the first time Kyiv has offered a precise figure.