A Russian strike on a nine-storey building in the city of Sumy in northern Ukraine killed eight people and wounded dozens, an official said on Sunday, as Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack described by officials as the largest in recent months. Among the eight killed in Sumy, 40 kilometres from the border with Russia, were two children, said Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko. More than 400 people were evacuated from the building.

The rescuers were checking every apartment looking for people who might be still in the damaged building. "Every life destroyed by Russia is a big tragedy," said Klymenko. The drone and missile attack, which targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, came as fears are mounting about Moscow's intentions to devastate Ukraine's power generation capacity ahead of the winter.