Russia fired its biggest ever drone barrage on Ukraine overnight, Kyiv said, just hours after US President Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin "crazy" and warned Russia risked new sanctions if it kept up its bombardment.
Mr Trump has been trying to broker an end to the three-year war, but has failed to extract any major concessions from Russia, despite repeated negotiations between his administration and Moscow and several phone calls between him and Mr Putin.
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that there were "no longer any range restrictions" on arms supplied by key Western allies to Ukraine, allowing Ukraine to attack "military positions in Russia".
In a rare rebuke of the Russian leader, Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform: "I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!"
"I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!"
French President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped Mr Trump's anger at Russia translated "into action", and that the US president realised Mr Putin was not ready for peace.
'Critical moment'
Russia played down Mr Trump's criticism, claiming Mr Putin was taking measures "necessary to ensure Russia's security".
"This is a very critical moment, which is fraught with emotional stress for everyone, as well as emotional reactions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks showed Russia had a sense of "impunity".
"The increase in Russian strikes should be met with increased sanctions," he said on social media.
Watch: Trump says he is 'not happy' with Putin following latest attack on Ukraine
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed towns as well as cities and spurred the biggest crisis in relations with the West since the Cold War.
Ukraine did not report any immediate deaths from the latest drone attack, but said Russian shelling in the last 24 hours had killed a civilian man in the northern Sumy region.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat warned it was becoming difficult to counter the sheer number of drones Russia was firing.
"We need rational and cheaper ways to shoot them down," he told Ukrainian TV.
Russia said it had captured two border villages in Ukraine's north eastern Sumy region, where it has been mounting an offensive for weeks.
Blasts heard in Kyiv
Mr Trump told reporters yesterday he was "not happy" about Russia's attacks on Ukraine and was "absolutely" considering increasing sanctions on Russia.
AFP reporters in the capital Kyiv heard loud blasts from air defences early today.
Russia fired "355 Shahed-type drones" including decoys at Ukraine between last night and early today, as well as nine cruise missiles, Ukraine's air force said.
Air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told AFP it was the largest drone attack since Russia's invasion began.
Air alerts in Kyiv lasted for six hours, officials said.
In the western Khmelnytsky region, Russian aerial attacks damaged 18 residential buildings, according to authorities.
A Russian attack also wounded a 14-year-old boy in the southern Odesa region, the region's governor said.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war have stepped up a gear in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding direct talks in Turkey earlier this month for the first time in three years.
Both sides swapped 1,000 people each over the weekend in their biggest ever prisoner exchange, while Russia said it was preparing a document outlining its peace terms for ending the war.
However, Russia has repeatedly rejected proposals for a 30-day ceasefire from Ukraine and its Western allies, while grinding forward on the front line.
Ukraine's SBU security service has claimed it detained several people, including a teenager, for acting as "informants" for Moscow, guiding Russian strikes on the country.
