The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces had struck defense industry sites and air bases in Ukraine, where, according to officials, at least 29 people were killed in the missile attack and a children's hospital was hit, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Moscow said its strikes were in retaliation for attacks on Russia. Earlier, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said one civilian was killed and three wounded after Ukrainian shells hit settlements in the area.
"This morning, in response to the Kyiv regime's attempts to damage Russian energy and economic facilities, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a group strike with long-range precision weapons against Ukrainian military industry facilities, as well as air bases of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the Russian Ministry of Defense announced.
"The objectives of the strike were achieved. The designated sites have been affected," the department added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces fired more than 40 rockets that hit several cities and damaged infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings in the fiercest attack in months.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Kiev's claims that the strikes were deliberately aimed at civilian infrastructure were "absolutely false".
"The numerous published photos and video materials from Kiev unequivocally confirm the fact of the destruction caused by the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile launched from an anti-aircraft missile complex within the city,", the Russian ministry said.
Earlier today, Russia launched a massive missile strike against Kiev and other Ukrainian cities in an unusual daytime attack that killed more than 20 people across the country and hit a children's hospital in the capital, Reuters reported, citing of local authorities.
Local authorities in Kyiv reported that nine people were killed and at least 33 were injured in the attacks on the capital. In Krivoy Rog, Zelensky's hometown, ten people were killed and 31 were injured, Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said. Another three people died in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, after a rocket hit a production building, the regional governor of Donetsk region said.
The massive attack on Ukraine came amid a surprise visit by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss a possible peace deal in Ukraine.