KYIV, March 16 (Reuters) - Russia launched a rare daylight attack on Kyiv on Monday using drones that appeared upgraded, Ukrainian officials said, with multiple explosions ripping through the city and drone debris crashing onto the capital's main square.

The attack hit four districts, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions and critical infrastructure, officials said.

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched 176 drones toward Ukrainian territory during the overnight hours of March 9 to 10, 2025, in one of the largest single aerial barrages since the full-scale invasion began.

A Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa killed two women and a toddler, authorities said Monday, while Ukrainian long-range drones targeted Russia’s key Black Sea port for oil exports.

A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region hit four districts and damaged homes, schools, businesses and critical infrastructure.

Russian attacks on Ukraine's southeast on Tuesday killed eight people and injured more than two dozen others, officials said, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of escalating strikes

Russia is reporting that it has shot down hundreds of Ukrainian drones in a massive overnight attack across its regions and Crimea.

This comes as the war enters its fifth year.

Ukraine launched more cross-border attack drones than Russia in a one-month period for the first time since the start of the ongoing war in 2022, according to daily data published by the Ukrainian Air Force and Russian Ministry of Defense,