Kyiv was shrouded in dark smoke early Thursday after Russia hammered Ukraine's capital with its second large-scale drone and missile barrage in as many nights.

The Kremlin said just after the massive attack that it was still open to more ceasefire talks with Ukraine.

The UN said the number of victims from Russian attacks was at its highest level in three years.

The barrage came before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Malaysia.

In Rome, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky called for more political and military support from allies at a conference there.

AFP journalists heard loud detonations reverberating over Kyiv throughout the night and saw flashes from air defence systems illuminating the sky during the attack.

Karyna Wolf, a Kyiv resident, told AFP she could hear the buzzing of a drone grow louder until a large explosion rocked the flats just two floors above in her building.

"I immediately jumped away from the wall, away from the windows and ran into the hallway, and in those seconds there was an explosion. There was a lot of glass shards flying at me," the 25-year-old said.

The........

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