Ukraine updates: Russian drones target Kyiv, Odesa

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has condemned what he described as Russia's "terror against the civilian population" in Ukraine, following intensified bombardments by Moscow.

At a joint press conference in Berlin with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Tuesday, Merz said the recent Russian attacks represented "the most serious war crimes" and emphasized that the Kremlin was deliberately targeting civilians rather than military infrastructure.

He stressed the importance of sanctions in undermining Russia's capacity to continue its onslaught.

"The question of how long Russia will be able to sustain this war also depends on how effective the sanctions."

Russia launched 315 drones and seven missiles at Ukraine overnight, in one of the largest air assaults since the start of the war, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.

Ukraine's Air Force reported that 284 drones and all seven missiles were intercepted. "The main direction of the attack - the capital of Ukraine, the city of Kyiv!" it said on Telegram.

Kyiv and the port city of Odesa were targeted by the Russian strikes. 

Zelenskyy posted on X that drone attack included "250 Shaheds, and 7 missiles, 2 of which were North Korean-made ballistic missiles."

"Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace," he said.

Two people were killed and at least nine wounded after a "massive" Russian drone attack struck Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa overnight on Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities said.

The strikes hit a maternity hospital and an emergency medical facility, as well as residential buildings, said regional governor Oleh Kiper. 

"A 59-year-old man was killed," Kiper posted on Telegram, adding that medics were treating four people wounded in the attacks.

The governor also said that residential buildings in the center of Odesa were destroyed and damaged.

The hospital patients and staff were evacuated before the Russian strikes. Photos shared by Kiper showed shattered windows and damaged building facades.

Kyiv came under a large-scale drone assault for the second consecutive day overnight on Tuesday, with explosions and gunfire echoing across the city as air defenses engaged incoming drones, Ukrainian authorities have said.

"Stay in shelters! The massive attack on the capital continues," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram.  

Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Telegram that Russian "drones are simultaneously attacking several districts of the city."

Emergency services responded to at least four districts after midnight.

Witnesses, including journalists from the French AFP and Reuters news agencies, reported hearing dozens of blasts and gunfire.

Several residential buildings and cars were damaged, and debris fell near a school. Four people were injured and taken to the hospital.

The strikes come just a day after Russia launched its largest drone barrage of the war, in what Moscow claims is in retaliation for recent Ukrainian attacks inside Russia.

The Ukrainian military urged people to seek bomb shelters.

The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the port city of Odesa came under "massive" drone attacks from Russia early Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.

The attacks come a day after Russia launched what Ukrainian officials described as the largest drone assault since the start of the war, firing a record 479 drones overnight. Poland scrambled warplanes to secure its airspace amid the Russian drone strike.

Stay with DW for real-time news, analysis, and insights from our correspondents on the ground as we continue to cover Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.