Putin unleashes hell: Russia pounds Ukraine with 200 drones and missiles in 'one of the biggest bombardments the war' as Zelensky calls for European warplanes to help shoot down rockets

Russia this morning launched one of its most brutal bombing raids on Ukraine in the war so far, pounding Kyiv and other cities with waves of drones and missiles and prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for the help of European warplanes.

Nationwide air raid alerts were triggered in the early hours as Ukraine's air defences sprang into action to shoot down a torrent of drones, which were launched as Moscow seeks revenge for Ukraine's invasion of its Kursk region.

The attacks kept coming, and hours later Ukraine's air force warned that Russia had deployed almost a dozen Tu-95 and six Tu-22M3 strategic bombers which let loose salvo after salvo of missiles during Monday morning rush hour.

MiG-31K warplanes - capable of firing fearsome Kinzhal supersonic missiles - and four naval vessels were also involved in the bombardment. 

At least three people were killed in the strikes and more were wounded, with casualties reported in the northwestern city of Lutsk, eastern Dnipro and the southern Zaporizhzhia regions.

The death toll is expected to rise sharply as rescuers begin combing through the rubble. 

Following the attacks, Zelensky urged European leaders to permit their air forces to help down drones and missiles over Ukraine.

'In our various regions of Ukraine, we could do much more to protect lives if the aviation of our European neighbours worked together with our F-16s and together with our air defence,' he said in a post on social media.

A residential apartment block was destroyed in the northwestern city of Lutsk, where one person is reported to have been killed

Video shows explosions, reportedly in Kyiv, as Russia launched a bombardment of Ukraine this morning

An explosion can be seen as a Russian projectile, believed to be a drone, smashed into a building in Lutsk

Smoke rises over a building in western Ukraine amid one of the aerial attacks by Russia of the country since the war began

Thunderous explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lutsk and Zaporizhzhia. Pictured: Smoke trails following a strike on Dnipro

A visibly enraged Putin is seen in a muted video from a weekend meeting with top military chiefs

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed that more than half of the country's regions - fifteen in total - had been struck by missiles and drones, with thunderous explosions also heard in the capital. 

Major blasts rang out this morning in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Kremenchuk, Vinnytsia, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, officials and eyewitnesses reported, with the extent of the damage still unknown.

A residential apartment block was destroyed in Lutsk, with rescue teams now working to evacuate survivors, the city's mayor said.

Ukraine's grid operator Ukrenergo has ordered emergency blackouts across the country as areas of Kyiv, Odesa and the president's home town of Kryvyi Rih were left without power. Water supplies were also hit in Kyiv and elsewhere. 

Zelensky said Russia had carried out strikes on Ukraine using more than 100 missiles and around 100 drones, imploring Western partners to deploy their own air assets to protect his nation from further Russian attacks. 

'It was one of the largest strikes - a combined one. More than a hundred missiles of various types and about a hundred ''shaheds'',' Zelensky said in a video message posted on Telegram, referring to attack drones.

'Like most Russian strikes before, this one was equally insidious, targeting critical civilian infrastructure. The energy sector has sustained significant damage, but in every area affected by power outages, restoration work is already in progress.

'Our defenders cannot be restricted in their weapons when Russia deploys its entire arsenal, including ''shaheds'' and ballistic missiles from North Korea. America, Britain, France, and our other partners have the power to help us stop this terror. The time for decisive action is now,' he said.

Meanwhile, NATO ordered its warplanes to fly over Poland and elsewhere on the alliance's eastern frontier as the far-reaching attack unfolded.

The Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said on X that Polish and allied aircraft had been activated after Russia launched the attack which also targeted regions in Ukraine's west and near the Polish border.

Rescue workers inside a building in Lutsk after it was hit in a Russian drone attack

Video what Russian Telegram channels SHOT and Mash identified as a high-rise residential building in the city, with a damaged side and several windows blown out across three floors 

The Ukrainians have been expecting a major Russian missile attack for some time. 

The US embassy issued a warning last week of an elevated risk of attack around Ukrainian Independence Day, which Ukraine marked on Saturday.

Russia launched two waves of drone attacks earlier on Monday, Ukraine's military said, with initial information showing no damage or casualties, before the major assault unfolded later in the morning.

Up to 10 drones were destroyed on their approach to the city in the region around Kyiv at about 0230 GMT, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. 

Ukraine has itself stepped up its long-range drone attacks on Russia to try hit back at Moscow, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

'The desire to destroy our energy will cost the Russians dearly: their infrastructure,' Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, said on Telegram, apparently vowing retaliation.

Moscow today claimed that a Ukrainian drone attempted to strike an oil refinery deep inside the country in the city of Yaroslavl, north of Moscow, this weekend. 

The Russian defence ministry added that its air defence systems had taken down 20 Ukrainian drones, including three over the Kursk region, where Zelensky's forces launched an incursion almost three weeks ago.

A residential complex in the southwestern city of Saratov had also been damaged by falling debris from drones destroyed by Russia's air defence systems this weekend, regional governor Roman Basurgin said on the Telegram messaging app.

A residential complex in the city of Saratov had been damaged by falling debris from drones destroyed by Russia's air defence systems, regional governor Roman Basurgin said

Reuters journalists were staying at Hotel Sapphire when the Iskander-M Russian ballistic missile hit on Sunday

Ukrainian recuers take a break during a search and rescue operation among the rubble of a destroyed hotel after a strike in the town of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region on Sunday

Video posted on Telegram by the Russian news SHOT channel showed what it identified as a high-rise residential building in the city, with a damaged side and several windows blown out across three floors.

In Engels, the top floor of a residential building was damaged, it added.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians. Each says its attacks are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to the other's war effort.