ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – An extensive Russian drone and missile bombardment across Ukraine in the early hours of Friday killed at least four people, with the move coming in retaliation for an unprecedented drone offensive deep in Russia proper by Kyiv on Sunday.

According to an X post by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian attack “targeted almost all of Ukraine” and entailed “over 400 drones and more than 40 missiles,” with at least 49 people being wounded.

He added that three of those killed were rescue workers, lamenting that the strikes were a continuation of Russia’s policy of” striking cities and villages to destroy life.”

Moscow’s attack also targeted the western Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Volyn, in addition to a heavy bombardment of the capital city of Kyiv, where all the fatalities reported so far occurred.

The offensive comes soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retaliation after a coordinated drone attack orchestrated by Kyiv on Sunday, codenamed Spider’s Web, that consisted of 117 unmanned aerial vehicles that struck deep within Russian borders, with Ukrainian security services claiming the attack took out 41 military aircraft.

The Kremlin on Thursday said that it would choose “how and when” to respond to the audacious attack that saw targets as far away as Siberia hit by drone strikes.

In light of the retaliatory strikes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Friday called on Kyiv’s allies to increase pressure against its foe, saying in a statement that “Russia's overnight attack on civilians once again demonstrates that the international pressure on Moscow must be increased as soon as possible.”

The conflict is now in its third year since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with Moscow’s forces currently occupying approximately one-fifth of its neighbor’s territory.