Air raid sirens blared and explosions rang out in nearly a dozen major cities as Russia rained missiles across Ukraine on Tuesday, in what Kyiv said was the heaviest wave of missile attacks in nearly nine months of war.

A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said Russia had launched about 100 missiles into Ukraine by early evening, more than on October 10, previously described as the largest number since the opening salvoes of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the main target of the missile flurry was energy infrastructure.

“It’s clear what the enemy wants. He will not achieve this,” he said in a video address circulated on the Telegram messaging app.

In the capital Kyiv, flames funnelled out of a five-storey apartment block, one of two residential buildings that authorities said had been hit. Residents later huddled by the smouldering ruins. Kyiv’s mayor said one person was confirmed dead and half the capital was without power.

Other attacks and explosions were reported in cities ranging from Lviv and Zhytomyr in the west to Kryvy Rih in the south and Kharkiv in the east. Regional officials reported that some of the attacks had knocked out electricity supplies.