A Russian aerial bombardment that lasted more than 12 hours has killed at least four people and injured at least 70 others in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the deaths all occurred in the capital, Kyiv, where many of the projectiles were aimed, and the victims included a 12-year-old girl.

The barrage - involving nearly 600 drones and several dozen missiles aimed at seven regions of Ukraine - is one of the heaviest in recent months.

Zelensky warned that Ukraine would retaliate and said the 'vile' attack showed Moscow 'wants to continue fighting and killing'. Russia said it struck military facilities and industrial enterprises supporting Ukraine's armed forces.

For Ukrainians, aerial bombardments can be both random and routine.

They tend to occur late on Saturday evenings - in this case, the first sirens were heard at 22:00 GMT.

The sound of anti-aircraft fire was punctuated with occasional explosions - presumably either from the sound of an intercepted drone or one hitting its target.

In Kyiv, the country's air alert app urged people to head to shelters and stay there. They were followed by pings warning of an increased aerial threat as hundreds of drones descended on the city.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Igor Klymenko said that at least 100 civilian sites had been damaged across the country by the attack, leaving entire neighborhoods in ruins.

Emergency services reported that an attack on Kyiv's Institute of Cardiology had killed a nurse and a patient. A large bakery, an automobile rubber factory, as well as apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure were also targeted, according to Zelensky.

Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Odesa regions were also affected by the assaults.

In Zaporizhzhia, Governor Ivan Fedorov noted that 34 injuries were reported, including three children. Zelensky vowed that Ukraine 'will strike back' in a bid to 'force diplomacy' from Russia and expressed his hope for a strong international reaction.

This brutal attack coincided with the recent UN General Assembly, marking Russia's stance amid escalating tensions. Zelensky has echoed the call for harsher sanctions on Russia, including curbs on oil and gas imports from European allies.

Russia's actions have prompted NATO to bolster its eastern defenses as tensions escalate across the region.