Russia unleashed one of its largest aerial assaults of the war on Ukraine’s capital early Thursday, firing a mix of drones and missiles that killed at least 18 people, among them four children, according to Kyiv’s State Emergency Service. Local authorities said at least 48 others were injured when explosions and fires tore through apartment blocks and other buildings during the nine-hour overnight attack. Ukraine’s air force reported that 629 weapons — 598 Shahed-type drones and 31 cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles — were launched nationwide, with debris or direct strikes recorded at more than 20 locations in seven districts of Kyiv. While air defences intercepted most incoming projectiles, impacts damaged scores of residential buildings, a kindergarten, transport infrastructure and the city-centre premises of both the European Union’s delegation and the British Council. President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the barrage as evidence that Moscow “chooses ballistics over the negotiating table” and urged tougher international sanctions. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also denounced the strikes, while the EU and the U.K. summoned Russia’s ambassadors over the incident. The assault was the first large-scale strike on Kyiv in several weeks and comes amid faltering U.S.-brokered efforts to restart peace talks between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rescue teams were still searching rubble for survivors late Thursday, and officials warned that casualty figures could rise.