Last week Ukraine was pummeled with the heaviest bombardment to date, and on Monday (Kyiv time) ballistic and cruise missiles targeted Kyiv causing loud explosions.

Ukraine also targeted Russia with more than 158 drones at the weekend, damaging an oil refinery near Moscow and a power station.

Zelenskiy repeated his calls for more Western air defences and urged allies to allow their long-range weapons to be used for strikes deeper into Russian territory in order to protect Ukraine.

“We keep telling everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror: air defence systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine, not in a warehouse somewhere.

“Long-range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now, not some time later. Unfortunately, every day of delay means loss of life.”

In Poltava, governor Filip Pronin said that many residents had donated blood for the injured. Local authorities announced three days of mourning.

The identities of the victims were not immediately disclosed.

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Serhiy Beskrestnov, a prominent Ukrainian Telegram blogger followed by many radio, communications and Electronic Warfare specialists in Ukraine’s military, posted a tribute to “my signals operator comrades”.

Fighting has intensified over the past month, with Russian forces advancing in heavy battles in eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv’s troops have mounted their first large-scale cross-border assault into a Russian region, for which Moscow has vowed to retaliate.