As the sun rose, rescuers were digging through a partly destroyed apartment building on Kyiv's left bank, where a Reuters correspondent saw workers pulling two bodies from the rubble.
At least 38 people were wounded in the hours-long assault on the city early on Thursday that damaged buildings in seven districts including the headquarters of the European Union mission to Ukraine and the British Council, officials said.
Across the country, Ukraine's military said Russian attacks struck 13 locations. National grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities were hit.
"Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table," Zelenskiy said on X, calling for new sanctions on Russia. "It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war."
Russia's Defence Ministry said its attack hit military industrial facilities and military air bases. Moscow has regularly denied targeting civilians but dozens have died in recent months during strikes on densely populated areas.
During the attack on Kyiv, explosions rang out as clouds of smoke rose into the night sky. Drones could be heard whirring overhead.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko described it as one of the biggest attacks on the city in recent months.
A push by Kyiv and its allies to end the invasion that Moscow launched in February 2022 has yielded little despite high-level meetings between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts.
Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front line and pushed a grinding offensive across much of the east in a bid to pressure Ukraine into giving up territory.
"Horrified by yet another night of deadly Russian missile attacks on Ukraine," European Council President Antonio Costa wrote on social media.
"My thoughts are with the Ukrainian victims and also with the staff of @EUDelegationUA whose building was damaged in this deliberate Russian strike. The EU will not be intimidated," he added.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also condemned the assault, writing on X: "My thoughts are with all those affected by the senseless Russian strikes on Kyiv which have damaged the British Council building. Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace."
Ukraine's military said air defences had downed 563 of nearly 600 drones and 26 of 31 missiles launched by Russia across the country.
One attack damaged a railway hub in central Ukraine's Vinnytsia region, where officials said a strike on critical infrastructure had left 60,000 residents without power.
Ukrainian officials have warned recently that Russia would step up strikes on the country's energy grid as winter approaches.
Moscow's Defence Ministry said Russian air defences destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones overnight in at least seven regions.
Ukraine's drone force said it had struck the Afipsky and Kuybyshevskyi oil refineries as part of that attack.
with Reuters
