AT least 14 people have been killed in one of the deadliest attacks on the Ukrainian capital in months.
Waves of Russian drones and missiles blitzed Kyiv in a nine hour long attack – with dozens injured.
Vladimir Putin’s assault hit 27 locations around the capital and caused damage to numerous buildings and essential infrastructure facilities, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
Describing it as one of the most significant attacks on the city since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, he stated: “Today, the enemy did not hold back, using both drones and missiles.”
A total of 14 people have been confirmed dead so far, among them a 62-year-old American citizen.
Authorities say at least 44 others have been wounded in strikes on the capital that lasted almost nine hours.
Rescuers are currently working to search through the debris of residential apartment blocks that were targeted by 175 drones, more than 14 cruise missiles, and at least two ballistic missiles launched by Putin’s forces.
Cruel Vlad’s attack lasted nearly nine hours and is the latest in a spate of mass drone and missile attacks on Kyiv.
Further blasts in the southern port city of Odesa also injured 13 people, including one child, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: “In Kyiv, people are currently trying to get out of the rubble of an ordinary residential building. It is not clear how many there are.
“The Russians destroyed an entire entrance.”
Poland’s military operational commander announced that Nato aircraft had been scrambled amid intense Russian strikes on neighbouring Ukraine.
It comes as world leaders met at the Group of Seven meeting in Canada – which Zelensky is expected to attend.
The war leader called on Western allies to “finally react the way a civilised society reacts to terrorists”.
He added: “Putin is doing this solely because he can afford to continue the war.
“He wants the war to continue.
“It is bad when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to this.
“We are contacting all partners at all possible levels so that there is an appropriate response.
“It is the terrorists who should feel the pain, not normal, peaceful people.”
Zelensky was set to meet Donald Trump in Canada on Tuesday, but the US leader unexpectedly returned to Washington on Monday night instead of Tuesday because of tensions in the Middle East.
It comes after Putin’s battlefield casualties soared past the bloody one million milestone after 40 months of a war he expected to win within days.
Ukraine‘s fierce resistance has ensured Russia has paid a mighty toll for every inch of land it has taken, and its advances remain painfully slow.
The staggering milestone includes troops who have been killed or wounded so severely that they cannot fight on.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, one million Russian military troops have been put out of action since February 24, 2022, with 628,000 of those casualties occurring in the last six months.
Burning through a million troops has won Putin just 20 per cent of Ukraine’s total territory – mainly in southern and eastern areas – which is a humiliating conversion rate.
Despite the devastating losses which have already ripped a scar in Russian society, experts fear that Putin is likely unaffected by the numbers, because mass sacrifice is ingrained in his battle plan.
Dr Stephen Hall, politics lecturer at the University of Bath, said that as far as the warmongering dictator is concerned, things are heading in the right direction, so he will keep on condemning young Russians to their deaths.
He told The Sun: “Putin believes he’s winning the war. The Russian army is moving forward like it or not.
“He believes that he can outlast the West, that the West is weak.”
