At least 16 people were killed and 59 others injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian regional authorities said Thursday, as Russia launched a large-scale overnight barrage of drones and ballistic missiles targeting Kyiv and other parts of the country.

The Ukrainian capital came under three waves of ballistic missile attacks overnight. Two people were killed and eight others wounded in Kyiv, while residential buildings, a maternity hospital, energy facilities and logistics infrastructure were damaged, according to Ukrainian officials.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks demonstrated the need for stronger air defenses, particularly additional systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

“Every such attack happens because pressure on the aggressor has still not become total,” Zelensky said, according to his official statement. He called for additional ballistic-missile interceptors to protect civilians.

According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia launched 282 attack drones overnight, including faster jet-powered drones, alongside Zircon anti-ship missiles and Iskander-M, S-400 and KN-23 ballistic missiles.

Ukrainian air defenses reported destroying 227 aerial targets, including 219 drones, four Zircon missiles, three ballistic missiles and one Banderol munition. Impacts were recorded at 13 locations, while debris from intercepted weapons fell at another 10 sites.

The intensified use of jet-powered drones has placed additional pressure on Ukraine's air-defense network. Reuters reported earlier this week that these faster drones are particularly difficult for mobile air-defense teams to intercept.

Donetsk Oblast recorded the highest number of fatalities outside the capital, with eight people killed and 19 wounded, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Five people were killed in Oleksandrivka, two in Kramatorsk and one in Sloviansk, according to the governor.

In Kharkiv Oblast, six people were killed and 12 injured. One of the attacks struck an agricultural enterprise in Stara Hnylytsia, where 12 people were wounded, according to regional authorities.

In Sumy Oblast, nine people were injured as Russian forces carried out nearly 60 attacks on 22 settlements.

In Odesa Oblast, two people were wounded in a large combined attack that damaged a hospital, school, residential buildings, a shopping center, warehouses and other civilian infrastructure.

Two more people were injured in Kherson Oblast, where attacks damaged apartment buildings, a private house, gas pipelines and critical infrastructure.

In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, six people were wounded in attacks on the Zaporizhzhia district. Regional authorities said Russian forces carried out 690 strikes against 55 settlements across the region over the previous day.

One person was also injured in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where three districts came under repeated drone and artillery attacks.

The latest barrage comes amid a sharp intensification of Russian drone and missile attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that shortages of ballistic-missile interceptors are making it increasingly difficult to defend major population centers against Russia's expanding aerial campaign. (ILKHA)