KYIV: Russian forces launched more than 500 drones and missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that mainly targeted the west of the country and caused power outages, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

AFP journalists in Kyiv heard explosions ringing out over the capital and air defence systems targeting Russian drones during the attack, which coincided with Vladimir Putin’s visit to China.

The barrage also came as UK Defence Secretary John Healey arrived in Ukraine for talks on security cooperation, according to his Ukrainian counterpart.

The head of the northern Chernigiv region, Vyacheslav Chaus, said 30,000 people were left without electricity after drone strikes on “civilian infrastructure”.

Ukraine’s air force said Moscow had fired 502 drones and 24 missiles, while regional officials in the west of the country said several people were wounded and residential homes and civilian infrastructure were damaged.

“Three missiles and 69 strike drones hit in 14 locations, and the debris of downed projectiles fell in 14 locations,” the air force added.

Officials in the Kirovograd region said four railway workers were wounded in the attack and that more than a dozen residential building were damaged.

Russia has fired almost nightly aerial drone and missile attacks on Ukraine since it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, sparking the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.