Russia launched a blistering assault on Ukraine overnight, killing at least six people and injuring 35. Some 430 drones and 18 missiles targeted the country, Ukraine’s president said, calling the strikes a deliberate and calculated attack “aimed at causing maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure”.

Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Kyiv early Friday, killing six people, leaving gaping holes in apartment buildings and starting fires as the sound of explosions boomed across the city and lit up the night sky.

Russian strikes on Friday also hit the Kharkiv, Odesa and Sumy regions. One drone attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea city of Chornomorsk near Odesa hit a market, killing at least two people and wounding seven, the regional governor, Oleh Kiper, said on Telegram.

Moscow’s attacks on gas supplies, the main source of warmth for most Ukrainian households, could plunge millions into the cold.

Friday's attack adds to growing anger and frustration among Kyiv residents as they face winter cold and darkness amid rampant power outages.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday accused Russia of launching a “wicked” wave of strikes that killed at least four people and wounded dozens, saying debris from an Iskander missile also struck the Azerbaijani Embassy in Kyiv.

Almost four years of conflict have taken their toll and the war of attrition is continuing on the homefront - but many Ukrainians are fighting to keep morale high.

Millions of Ukrainians are enduring cold temperatures and darkness after a wave of Russian attacks against energy facilities caused widespread power outages across the country.