A Russian ballistic missile with cluster munitions hit a residential area in a city in northern Ukraine, killing 11 people, including two children, and injuring 84 others, officials reported on Monday.
The two children who died in the attack in Sumy on Sunday night were a 9-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, said the regional prosecutor's office. Six injured children are in critical condition, it was reported.
The attack damaged 15 buildings, including two educational centers, according to the prosecution. The search and rescue operation continued on Monday, on the eve of the milestone of 1,000 days of war.
Sumy is located 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the Russian border.
Also on Sunday, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, authorized for the first time Ukraine to use longer-range missiles supplied by the United States to attack inside Russia, following extensive lobbying by Ukrainian officials.
Weapons are likely to be used in response to North Korea's decision to send thousands of troops to support Russia in the Kursk region, where Ukraine carried out a military incursion during the summer.
This is the second time that the United States authorizes the use of Western weapons within Russian territory with restrictions, after allowing the use of HIMARS systems, a shorter-range weapon, to halt Russia's advance in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv in May.
Ukraine's first reaction to the expected decision of the United States was notably restrained.
"Today, there is a lot of talk in the media about having received permission for the relevant actions. But attacks are not carried out with words. These things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his evening video message.
Zelenskyy said earlier on Sunday that Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine, including Sumy. Russia deployed various types of drones, he said, including Iranian-made Shahed, as well as cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and models launched from aircraft.
The attack, aimed at Ukraine's energy infrastructure, occurred as fears grow about Moscow's intentions to cripple Ukraine's energy generation capacity before winter.
The Ukrainian defenses shot down 144 out of a total of 210 aerial targets, reported the Ukrainian Air Force.
"The enemy's target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from impacts and fallen debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people died and six others were injured, including two children," said Zelenskyy.
Two more people died in the Odesa region, where the attack damaged energy infrastructure and affected the supply of energy and water, said the local governor, Oleh Kiper. The two victims were employees of the state electricity grid operator of Ukraine, Ukrenergo, the company said hours later.
The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to the head of the Military Administration of the City of Kiev, Serhii Popko.
A person was injured after the roof of a five-story residential building caught fire in the historic center of Kiev, according to Popko.
A thermal power plant operated by the private energy company DTEK was "seriously damaged," the company said.
Russian attacks have targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighboring country in February 2022, causing repeated emergency blackouts and nationwide rotating power cuts. Ukrainian officials have frequently urged their Western allies to strengthen the country's air defenses to counter the assaults and allow for repairs.
The Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged on Sunday a "massive" missile and drone attack on "critical energy infrastructure" in Ukraine, but stated that all targeted facilities were linked to Kiev's military industry.
Although Ukraine's nuclear plants were not directly affected, several electrical substations they depend on suffered more damage, said the UN nuclear energy watchdog in a statement on Sunday. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, only two out of Ukraine's nine operational reactors are still generating power at full capacity.
The Russian army said on Monday that it had intercepted and destroyed 59 Ukrainian drones overnight in several Russian regions. Two were shot down over the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital, and three others over the neighboring Tula region. A total of 54 drones were destroyed over the Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod regions on the border with Ukraine, according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said that the drones shot down on the outskirts of Moscow were heading towards the capital.