Russian strikes kill 21 in biggest ever attack on Kyiv

KYIV, July 2: Russia launched its largest ever barrage on Kyiv early Thursday, according to the city's mayor, tearing open apartment buildings in an hours-long drone and missile attack that killed at least 21 people.

In Moscow, the Kremlin vowed to further ramp up the "pressure" on Kyiv after the strike, sticking to its no-compromise rhetoric as rescuers in Kyiv scoured the rubble for survivors.

The European Union's top diplomat proposed new sanctions on Moscow, while Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky asked the United States for licences to manufacture Patriot air defence missiles.

Russia has routinely launched waves of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities during its more than four-year invasion, which has become Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

AFP journalists in central and eastern Kyiv heard more than a dozen explosions and saw residents -- some with children and pets -- rushing to shelter in metro stations.�" AFP