Russia fired more than 500 drones at regions across Ukraine in a relatively rare daytime attack, killing at least three people, injuring dozens, and damaging buildings in the historic center of the western city of Lviv, officials said.
The onslaught on March 24 followed overnight strikes that killed at least four people, authorities said. Russia frequently fires drones and missiles at cities in pre-dawn and early morning attacks, but daytime strikes far from the front lines are less common.
The barrages came amid what the Kremlin called a "situational pause" in US-Ukraine-Russia talks to end the war, now in its fifth year since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the neighboring country.
In Lviv, video footage showed a drone flying over a building in the city center and striking what appeared to be a three-story apartment house adjacent to a church. Flames leapt toward the sky after the strike.
At least two apartment buildings were hit, Lviv mayor Andriy Sadoviy said on Telegram.
"Russia is attacking a crowded city center in broad daylight. Just minutes ago, Russian-Iranian drones struck the city of Lviv, seriously injuring two people," Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X. Officials later said at least 13 people were hospitalized.
Svyrydenko said a 17th century church that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site in central Lviv, the Bernardine Monastery Ensemble, was targeted. On Telegram, regional head Maksym Kozytskiy said part of the historical site was damaged.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha urged the head of UNESCO, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to "immediately respond to this crime in the strongest terms."
"Ukraine will use all available mechanisms to protect our cultural heritage and ensure accountability. Russia’s brutal violations of international law must be met with accountability," Sybiha wrote on X. He said other regions including Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhya, and Dnipro had been targeted on March 24.
At least two people were killed in Ivano-Frankivsk and one in Vinnytsya, according to local officials.
The air force said Ukraine's military destroyed or disabled all but 15 of the 556 drones it said Russia fired at Ukraine between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., bringing the total number fired over a 24-hour period close to 1,000.
Earlier in the day, Ukraine reported that Russia had launched 426 drones and missiles in overnight and morning attacks, killing at least four people and injuring more than 20 others. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said damage was reported in 11 of Ukraine's administrative regions.
"Another night of Russian terror against Ukraine," Sybiha wrote following the deadly attack. "When Russia fails on the battlefield and cannot impose its will at the negotiating table, it resorts to terror against civilians."
According to the regional authorities, two people were killed and 11 injured in the eastern Poltava region, where residential buildings and a hotel were damaged.
In the southeastern Zaporizhzhya region, a combined drone and missile attack killed one person and injured five others, according to the head of regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov.
A Russian drone also hit a commuter train in the Kharkiv region, killing a 61-year-old passenger, according to the regional prosecutor's office.
Meanwhile, in the eastern city of Dnipro, a multistory building was hit in a morning strike on March 24, leaving at least eight people injured, two of whom were in a serious condition.
"Pressure on Russia must be intensified without delay. Sanctions must bite harder. The 20th EU package [of sanctions against Russia] must be adopted. The shadow fleet must be anchored," Sybiha wrote in a post on X, referring to tankers Russia uses to evade Western sanctions and deliver oil and petroleum products to markets.
Russian Strike Triggers Moldova Emergency
Moldova, meanwhile, has announced plans to declare a 60-day state of emergency in its energy sector after a key Europe-linked power line was cut following Russian strikes in Ukraine.
"We will propose declaring a state of emergency in the energy sector for 60 days. This is not a measure born of panic but of responsibility," Moldovan Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu said in a Facebook video on March 24.
Moldova imports most of its electricity from its neighbor, the European Union member Romania, via a power cable that passes through southern Ukraine.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has condemned the Russian strikes on civilian energy infrastructure in Ukraine as "a war crime -- and an attack on all of us."
"Overnight strikes disconnected Moldova's key power link with Europe. Alternative routes are in place, but the situation remains fragile. Russia alone bears responsibility," she said in a post on X.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian launched 34 missiles and 392 drones, including seven Iskander ballistic, 23 cruise, and four guided air-to-air missiles. Ukrainian military says its air forces have intercepted 365 drones and 25 missiles.
In his nightly address just hours before the Russian attack, Zelenskyy, citing intelligence reports, warned of a possible large-scale Russian strike and urged citizens to remain alert to air raid signals.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said their forces intercepted 55 Ukrainian drones overnight, a day after Ukraine hit a fuel reservoir at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk, the country's largest western oil-exporting hub.
The Primorsk port, capable of exporting over 1 million barrels of crude oil per day, is a key outlet for Russia's Urals crude and high-quality diesel.
It was not the first time Primorsk was hit by Ukrainian forces; the port was previously targeted in September 2025, temporarily disrupting oil loadings.
The latest attacks occurred as Russia announced that trilateral talks between Washington, Moscow, and Kyiv aimed at ending the war in Ukraine were on "situational pause" following the start of the Iran war.
"This is a situational pause, for obvious reasons," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that as soon as "our American partners" could pay more attention to Ukrainian affairs, Moscow hoped that the pause could end.
