Russia launched a wave of missile attacks across Ukraine on Thursday morning, with Ukraine’s air force claiming it shot down 54 Russian winged cruise missiles out of 69 launched into Ukraine from Rostov in Russia, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.

Ukraine’s president acknowledged that most regions were suffering power outages after the attacks but he said the damage would have been worse without “heroic” air defence. Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video address said air commands in central, southern, eastern and western Ukraine repelled 54 Russian missiles and 11 drones during one of Russia’s biggest aerial assaults since it started the war.

The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, stated that 3 people were known to have been injured in the capital, including a 14-year-old girl. Two people had been rescued from a private house that had been struck by debris. Klitschko said 40% of the capital’s consumers were without electricity after the missile attack.

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, pledged that Rome would continue to help Kyiv’s war effort and that she would visit before the end of February.

The UK will commit £2.3bn in aid to Ukraine in 2023, said the UK’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace.