Russia and Ukraine exchanged one of the largest waves of long-range attacks of the war overnight, with Moscow launching a combined missile and drone assault on Kyiv while Russian authorities said they had intercepted hundreds of Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and other regions, reported the Kyiv Post.

Ukrainian authorities appeared to have anticipated a large-scale Russian attack. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned the public in advance of the threat of a mass missile strike and cut short a visit to Dublin to return to Ukraine.

According to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Ukrainian air-defence units began engaging incoming targets on the approaches to the capital shortly before 10 p.m. local time.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched a complex, multi-vector attack involving 171 aerial weapons, including 114 Shahed attack and decoy drones, four Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, seven Iskander-M and KN-23 ballistic missiles, 34 Kh-101 cruise missiles fired by strategic bombers over Russia's Vologda region, eight Kalibr cruise missiles launched from warships in the Black Sea near Novorossiysk, and four Kh-59 and Kh-69 air-launched missiles fired by aircraft over Russia's Voronezh region.

Ukraine said the majority of the incoming weapons were intercepted, although several missiles and drones penetrated the country's layered air-defence network and struck targets in Kyiv.

Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged in several districts of the capital, while fires broke out after debris from intercepted missiles and drones fell onto buildings and vehicles.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the assault as the most intensive attack on the capital since Russia's full-scale invasion began.

"It was a terrible night for Kyiv. The enemy carried out the most massive attack on the capital, using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones," he said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said the strikes were carried out in response to what it described as Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure inside Russia.

The ministry said its forces had targeted defence-industrial enterprises, fuel and energy facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region, as well as military airfield infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkasy, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions.

Among the facilities Russia said it had struck were enterprises involved in the production of missile guidance systems, drones, electronic warfare equipment, armoured vehicle optics, fuel storage and logistics supporting Ukraine's armed forces. Reuters could not independently verify those claims or assess the extent of any damage to the facilities named by Moscow.

The Russian strike came as Moscow reported one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory in recent months.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its air-defence forces intercepted and destroyed 419 Ukrainian drones overnight across 18 Russian regions and Crimea.

According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, 56 drones were intercepted while approaching the Russian capital after air-defence units began engaging incoming aircraft at around 4 a.m. local time.

Sobyanin said there were no casualties or significant damage in Moscow itself.

However, the attacks temporarily disrupted operations at Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports.

In the Moscow region, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said debris from a drone crashed into a private house in the town of Yegoryevsk, causing a fire that killed a six-month-old child. Two adults and two other children were taken to hospital, he said.

Residents also reported hearing explosions in Tula, Novorossiysk and Ryazan during the attacks.

Russian officials have repeatedly reported large numbers of Ukrainian drones being intercepted in recent weeks. Moscow said it had shot down 660 Ukrainian drones during attacks on June 25-26, while a Ukrainian strike on June 18 caused a fire at the Kapotnya oil refinery in southeastern Moscow.

Ukraine rarely comments publicly on long-range drone operations inside Russia but has consistently said such strikes are directed at military, industrial and energy facilities supporting Russia's invasion rather than civilian targets.

Russian claims regarding the number of drones intercepted and the effectiveness of its air-defence systems could not be independently verified.