The Kremlin has ignited fresh tensions with France after claiming that a test launch of a nuclear-capable missile was part of a “dead end” strategy to confront Russia.
French president Emmanuel Macron hailed the test of the submarine-launched ballistic missile off the coast of Brittany as a message "sent loud and clear for wherever it must be received", without mentioning Russia directly.
The launch came amid growing tensions between Moscow and the West over the war in Ukraine and an increasing number of hybrid attacks on European soil.
"They are building their identity in the field of defence and security on the basis of confrontation with the Russian Federation. This is a dead end path. As history shows, it leads to nothing good," he said.
Earlier, authorities in Kyiv said two people were killed in a massive Russian missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital overnight.
Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv at around 3am local time, with many residents taking shelter in subways and metro stations.
Trump promises to speak to Putin about suspected plague death amid reports of second case
Watch: Massive Russian attack on Ukraine
Ukraine air force says it's downing more drones than ever
Russia's defence ministry said its forces had carried out a massive strike on military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions, using high-precision land-, sea- and air-launched weapons, as well as drones.
Ukraine's air force said it had downed just over 80% of the 46 jet-powered drones launched by Russia - a sharp increase from recent weeks when, on average, air defences took down 50% to 60%.
Since the summer, Russia has used increasing numbers of the new high-velocity drones in round-the-clock attacks on Kyiv and other cities, with Ukraine's air defences struggling to cope with their speed.
The air force did not explain the jump in the interception rate.
Zelensky said the Russian ballistic missiles remained the major challenge for Ukraine, adding that he and his team were "every day looking for Patriot (missile interception) systems that can and must protect people's lives".
In pictures: Devastation in Pryluky
Death toll of 'one of most vile' strikes reaches 25 including five children
Russia has pounded Ukraine with waves of missiles and drones in one of its most "vile strikes", killing at least 25 people, including five children, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Industrial facilities and energy infrastructure were damaged and around 100 people were wounded, Ukrainian officials said.
The five children were killed when a Russian missile struck an apartment building, Mr Zelensky said. Three were a year old and another was 8.
The heaviest death toll was in Pryluky in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region, where a Russian missile obliterated a five-storey residential building. At least 18 people were killed there, local officials said.
Mr Zelensky said: "Today, as a birthday 'gift' to Putin, the Russian army destroyed a residential building in Pryluky."
He said six more people were also killed in Kyiv, Oleksandria and Kremenchuk.
Russia fired 70 missiles at Ukraine - many of them high-velocity ballistic munitions - and dozens of Shahed attack drones, he said.
"The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively. This was one of the most vile strikes."
In Pryluky, an excavator and dozens of rescuers with shovels sifted through rubble at the site where several sections of the apartment block had collapsed.
Emergency workers used ladders to get to the upper floors of what remained of the building, and brought out 15 people alive. Around 55 people were wounded in the town, officials said.
Russian strikes on Ukraine kill at least 15 as Putin celebrates 74th birthday
Denmark says Russia has conducted sabotage attacks on defence firms
Russia has begun sabotage operations against Danish companies supplying Ukraine after concluding that broader disruption efforts failed to curb Western military support for the country, a Danish intelligence official has said.
The shift reflects a significant escalation in Moscow's hybrid warfare campaign, Josefine Christensen, lead analyst at the Danish national security and intelligence service (PET), told a homeland security conference in Copenhagen.
"What we saw in the spring was a lot of planning, but very little carried `out; what we saw in early summer is that they started to carry out a lot more," Christensen said.
Russia concluded that its previous broad-spectrum targeting "did not have the effect of deterring the Western (military alliance) Nato from supporting Ukraine," she said.
Moscow maintains political control over operations, but operational boldness is growing, she said.
Russia is now "trying to hit targets that have a direct impact on the front line. That means weapons production."
Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in sabotage or hybrid warfare operations.
The Russian embassy in Copenhagen rejected the allegations, accusing Danish authorities of making unfounded accusations against Russia.
Bulgaria halts rescue operation for crew of sunken ship
Bulgaria has halted its search for the missing crew of a ship that sank after being hit by a drone on Tuesday about 130 km off its coast.
Vice-Admiral Rumen Nikolov, of the Maritime Administration Executive Agency, told Nova TV that the rescue operation for the crew of the sunken ship would not resume on Wednesday.
One sank and the other was damaged. The crew of the damaged ship were rescued, but the crew of the sunken one remain missing.
"There are no traces of the sailors from the first ship, and there will be none. There is also no information about drone remains," he said.
"A boat, three life rafts and parts of the ship's equipment have been found."
Trump speaking to Putin about suspected plague death after reports of second case in Russia
President Donald Trump says he will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the death of a plague research lab technician in Siberia.
Darya Shipilova, 28, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, in Shelekov, southeastern Siberia. She died a week after she reportedly smashed a test tube containing the bacterium that causes the pneumonic plague.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump was asked whether he planned to speak to the Russian leader about the situation.
“I have a call scheduled,” he said, noting that it was set to take place “very soon.”
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Ukraine spoofs two Russian ballistic missiles mid-flight: report
Ukraine diverted two Russian ballistic missiles targeting a key government site in Kyiv earlier this year using an electronic warfare system, according to a report.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the two missiles were travelling at hypersonic speed when they were brought down and crashed into the Dnipro river.
They were diverted using radio signals generated by the Lima system, which spoofs satellite navigation signals. It was operated by Ukraine’s electronic warfare unit, named Night Watch.
The signals caused navigation apps on phones in the city to briefly switch to Peru, WSJ said.