Monday marked another turning point into darkness in Ukraine

Many of the missiles and drones struck areas far away from military targets, writes David Harding

Ukraine has been making significant advances against Russia’s positions in the east (EPA)

Monday morning, Ukrainians woke up to the haunting blare of air raid sirens: a depressingly normal occurrence these days. But this time, volleys of missiles rained down across the country in what was likely Russia’s largest salvo since the start of the war. In total, 19 people were killed and dozens wounded, as wave after wave of rockets tore into playgrounds, parks, tourist sites and intersections as well as vital energy infrastructure knocking out power supplies.

More than 300 cities and towns were apparently plunged into darkness, from the Ukrainian capital all the way to Lviv on the border with Poland.

Explosions, meanwhile, were reported in Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in western Ukraine, Dnipro in the centre, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Kharkiv in the east.