The attack by Russian missiles and drones targeted the capital, Kyiv, and the large cities of Dnipro and Kharkiv, as well as several smaller municipalities.

In all, 25 locations across Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv, were hit, leaving many areas without electricity and heating. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Telegram that major energy facilities were damaged in the Poltava, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions, and work was under way to restore power.

The devastated city -- which was home to some 60,000 people before Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion -- has become a key focus of the Kremlin's yearslong push to capture all of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast, which along with neighboring Luhansk Oblast makes up the Donbas region.

More than 1,400 citizens from three dozen African countries are fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, Kyiv's foreign minister said on Friday. Ukrainian officials say Russia has tried to bolster the force attacking its smaller neighbour by recruiting fighters from a variety of countries,

Slovakia will not agree to using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday.

A Russian oil depot in Crimea was struck by Ukrainian drones, according to authorities in Kyiv, who released a video of the attacks.

Russia is betting that its military machine will eventually overwhelm its western neighbor, and that battle is playing out in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

Donald Trump has given Hungary a one-year exemption from Russian oil and gas sanctions after the country's PM Viktor Orban visited DC, according to a White House official.