Russia fired nearly 1,000 drones at Ukraine in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian air force said, after an unprecedented daytime barrage killed at least three people across the war-torn country.
"Taking into account the night attack ... the enemy used almost 1,000 strike drones," Ukraine's air force said on Telegram, adding that "the geography of the attack during the day was wider than at night" targeting Ukraine's western regions, hundreds of kilometres from the front.
Ukraine downed 541 out of 556 attack drones launched by Russia in an unusual daytime attack, Kyiv's air force said.
Since yesterday evening, Russia has used a record 948 drones against the country, the air force added.
It comes as a Russian drone hit a residential building in the historic centre of Ukraine's western city of Lviv during a rare daytime attack, wounding two people, local officials have said.
Emergency services have been dispatched to the scene, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Telegram, posting a picture of a building engulfed in flames.
The 17th century St Andrew's Church, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, came under attack, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
"Russia is attacking a crowded city centre in broad daylight. Just minutes ago, Russian-Iranian drones struck the city of Lviv," she said on X.
A six-year-old was among four wounded and two people killed in a rare Russian daytime drone attack in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, the head of the region said.
"As a result of the enemy attack on the centre of Ivano-Frankivsk, two people have been killed," Svitlana Onyshchuk wrote on social media, adding that some ten residential buildings and a maternity hospital had been damaged.
Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing private security firms to use firearms to defend critically important energy facilities, the government said, expanding the range of weapons used for such protection.
The law, which takes immediate effect, follows an intensification of Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries and key exporting outlets as it tries to hit Moscow's revenues and undercut its military capabilities.
Private firms will be able to deploy more powerful weapons, such as Kalashnikov assault rifles, to protect key sites. Russia also said last October it would seek to use reservists to defend civilian infrastructure such as oil refineries.
Some refineries, including in the republic of Bashkortostanin the Urals mountains, have installed anti-drone nets.
Ukraine, US still need to work through security guarantees - Zelensky
Ukraine and the United States still need to develop the security guarantees agreement that Kyiv has long sought from Washington, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, having previously described the document as fully ready.
Security guarantees were one of the topics discussed over the weekend between Kyiv and Washington's representatives at a meeting in Florida.
Kyiv wants iron-clad promises from the US and other allies to come to its aid should Russia attack again after the end of the war.
"The most important task is to develop security guarantees in a way that brings us closer to ending the war," Mr Zelensky wrote on social media after a debrief with his negotiating team.
Mr Zelensky had said in January that the security guarantees document between Ukraine and the US was "100% ready" and waiting to be signed.
"The geopolitical situation has become more complicated due to the war against Iran, and unfortunately, this is emboldening Russia," he said.
Mr Zelensky also called for a meeting of US, European and global leaders to discuss solutions to the war between Russia and Ukraine and the war in Iran.
