By Yuliia Dysa and Max Hunder

KYIV (Reuters) - Russia pounded Kyiv and surrounding areas with hundreds of drones and missiles on Sunday in one of the heaviest bombardments of the city since the start of the four-year war, firing an Oreshnik hypersonic missile near the capital.

Russia's hours-long overnight barrage killed two people in Kyiv and two more in the surrounding area, and it wounded nearly 100, according to Ukrainian officials. Authorities said dozens of residential buildings and several schools had been damaged, many in the centre of Kyiv.

"It's important that this does not remain without consequences for Russia," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app, urging Ukraine's allies to act. "Decisions are needed - from the United States, from Europe and others."

Officials also reported strikes in other parts of Ukraine and two deaths in the southern region of Kherson.

EUROPEANS DECRY 'ESCALATION'

European leaders condemned the Kyiv attack, with Britain and Germany describing the use of the Oreshnik - an intermediate range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads - as an "escalation".

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, accused Moscow of resorting to "a political scare-tactic and reckless nuclear-brinkmanship".

The attack caused minor damage to Ukraine's cabinet building and to the Foreign Ministry.

Kyiv's national art museum and philharmonic hall, both in the heart of the city, were badly damaged, officials said, with many other historic buildings in the city centre also affected.

"This is a war against our culture, memory, and identity," Zelenskiy's top aide Kyrylo Budanov said. "For centuries, Moscow has tried to destroy everything that makes us Ukrainian."

One of the strikes destroyed a newly opened museum commemorating the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster, eliciting angry words from Zelenskiy when he visited the scene.

At a city centre cafe which had celebrated its opening on Saturday, staff were sweeping up glass and rubble on Sunday. Despite the damage, they continued to serve customers, some of whom said they had come to show their support.

"Once the emotions die down a bit, we'll think about whether to restore everything ... or whether to work at all," said Yevhenii Prusak, the cafe's co-owner.

NUCLEAR-CAPABLE MISSILE

It was only the third time that Russia has used the Oreshnik missile against Ukraine since the war began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Oreshnik has a range of several thousand kilometres.

The previous two strikes had hit major cities, but Zelenskiy said this one had struck Bila Tserkva, a city of 200,000 people that lies about 40 miles (64 km) from the outskirts of Kyiv.

The Oreshnik's warhead appears to have split into 36 submunitions, according to a review of Reuters footage of the strike by Rollo Collins, an investigator at the Centre for Information Resilience, an open-source investigation organisation.

In total, the air force said, Russia launched 90 missiles and 600 drones.

Zelenskiy said Russia had also targeted water-supply facilities, saying Moscow wanted to damage them before the summer increased demand.

Moscow said it had used Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal and Zircon missiles in retaliation for Kyiv's strikes on civilian targets in Russia. Ukraine says it does not target civilians.

Russia's Defence Ministry said the strikes targeted Ukrainian military command facilities, including sites used by land forces and military intelligence, air bases and military-industrial sites.

Moscow also denies targeting civilians, although thousands have been killed by its bombardments of Ukrainian cities during the war.

'TERRIFYING' NIGHT IN KYIV

The attack devastated Lukyanivka, a district north of Kyiv's city centre which is home to a missile plant. Many of the nearby apartment blocks and commercial buildings have been damaged repeatedly by Russian strikes throughout the war.

A shopping centre and a nearby market were gutted by flames.

At least two people were killed and another 81 wounded in the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. About 30 buildings in the city were damaged or destroyed, according to Zelenskiy.

Many residents sought shelter overnight in metro stations. Nataliia Zvarych, 62, said she had rushed to her local station as explosions started rocking the city.

"It was terrifying, scary," she said.

Posted by: AAngeles/NET25 News