Russia has threatened to launch a fresh wave of systematic strikes against Kyiv, days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war. The new strikes will target decision-making centres and command posts, alongside drone manufacturing facilities in the city, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement. Moscow has called for foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv as soon as possible and warned citizens to stay away from administrative and military buildings. Large-scale Russian strikes on Saturday night killed four and injured about 100 people in Kyiv and other areas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Moscow said that barrage and threatened further strikes were in response to what it claims was a deliberate Ukrainian attack on a student dormitory in the town of Starobilsk on Friday, in which Russian officials said 21 people were killed.

This week, with air raid warnings wailing in the distance, Kyiv held a funeral for two sisters. They had already lost their father who had been fighting on the front line. Their grieving mother is now the family's sole survivor. This is the human cost of the largest sustained Russian aerial assault so far - with 1,500 drones and 56 missiles fired at Ukraine within 48 hours. But the loss of life could have been even higher.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war on Friday, hours after rescue workers ended their search of a destroyed block of flats in Kyiv in which 24 people were killed, including three girls. Most of the Ukrainian prisoners had been held since 2022, said President Zelensky. The swap was part of a short-lived ceasefire ending this week with the launch of massive Russian strikes across Ukraine, including a missile attack that reduced 18 flats to rubble. Among the victims was 12-year-old Lyubava Yakovleva, whose father was killed during the war. Meanwhile, Russian officials said four people, including a child, were killed when Ukrainian drones hit the city of Ryazan, south-east of Moscow.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina has resigned following a political crisis over Russia-bound Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory. She had fired her Defence Minister Andris Spruds last week after two drones crashed down in eastern Latvia, criticising his response and appointing a replacement. In protest, Spruds's Progressives party pulled their support for Silina's governing coalition, causing it to collapse months before a planned general election in October. Seeing a strong candidate for the post of defence minister... political windbags have chosen a crisis, Silina said on Thursday. I am resigning but I am not giving up.

One person has been killed and dozens wounded after Russia launched a massive wave of strikes against Ukraine overnight, officials have said. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said it was an especially difficult night for Kyiv, where rescuers are searching through the rubble of a residential building after a combined missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital. The overnight barrage followed a major attack on Wednesday - one of the largest Russia has mounted since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022, with 892 drones launched in 24 hours. It marks the third day in a row Ukraine has reported deaths, as Moscow ramps up its assault after a three-day ceasefire expired on Monday. In the capital, a search and rescue operation began early Thursday to look for people under the rubble of a nine-storey apartment block which had been hit overnight.

Nine people have been killed and at least 28 injured in the latest Russian drone attacks across Ukraine, local officials have said. They said the worst-hit was the central Dnipropetrovsk region, where eight people were killed and 11 injured throughout Tuesday. One casualty was reported in the eastern Donetsk region. Overall, 14 regions were attacked. On Wednesday morning, President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 100 Russian drones were currently over Ukraine, warning of more waves of attacks throughout the day.

Russia ignores Ukraine's unilateral ceasefire and attacks kindergarten Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of breaching a unilateral ceasefire announced by Ukraine by launching a wave of drone attacks on several cities. The Ukrainian president said Russia had carried out active hostilities and terrorist shelling, targeting the front line as well as firing dozens of drones and missiles at civilian areas. In the Sumy border region, one woman was killed when a kindergarten was hit on Wednesday morning, local authorities said. No children were present at the time. Earlier this week the two warring sides had announced rival unilateral ceasefires - with no agreement on their terms, length or monitoring.

A Ukrainian drone hit an upmarket residential high-rise in Moscow in the early hours of Monday, resulting in no casualties but causing visible damage to the façade of the building. It was the third night in a row that the Russian capital came under attack from drones, days before Russia holds a scaled-back 9 May parade to mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. An unverified video circulating on social media showed firemen entering a heavily damaged flat covered in dust and rubble and with blown-out windows, while another showed drone debris strewn across the street below. Two other drones were intercepted, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Vnukovo and Domodedovo international airports suspended operations overnight.

The Iran war has strengthened Ukraine in surprising ways. Could a ceasefire with Russia be closer? When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, serious-faced and clad in black, strolled down a lilac carpet in Saudi Arabia in March, it marked a moment in the US-Israeli war in Iran. In a post on X, he said his visit was to strengthen the protection of lives. Zelensky, who carries the weight of Ukraine's own war with Russia on his shoulders, has been seizing the moment, flying to the Gulf to publicly showcase the international value and marketability of Kyiv's learned-on-the-battlefield military nous in drone warfare. Ukraine says it has now signed deals with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar - all hit by Iranian missiles and drones in recent weeks - to share drone expertise and technology, tightening alliances and benefitting from business - and it hopes defence deals - with wealthy US-allied countries.

At least seven people were killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine overnight, including five in the central city of Dnipro, where officials said an apartment building was hit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest attack lasted practically all night, while rescue workers were still searching for survivors under rubble in Dnipro on Saturday morning. British jets were scrambled from Romania during the heavy attack when Russian drones were detected near the border, though the UK Ministry of Defence rejected a report it had shot some down. Meanwhile, Ukraine carried out some of its longest-distance drone strikes deep inside Russian territory. In Yekaterinburg, almost 1,000 miles (1,600km) from Ukraine's border, the governor said six people were injured when a building was struck - while in nearby Chelyabinsk, a local leader said drones targeting an industrial facility were shot down.