KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired 122 missiles and dozens of drones against Ukrainian targets, officials said Friday, killing at least 27 civilians across the country in what an air force official called the largest aerial bombardment of the war.

At least 144 people were injured and an unknown number were buried under rubble during the roughly 18-hour attack, Ukrainian officials said. Damaged buildings reported across Ukraine included a maternity hospital, apartment blocks and schools.

The Ukrainian Air Force intercepted most of the ballistic and cruise missiles as well as the Shahed-type drones overnight, said Ukrainian military chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Western officials and analysts had recently warned that Russia had been limiting its cruise missile attacks for months, apparently to stockpile for massive winter strikes in the hope of breaking the Ukrainians’ spirit.

The result was “the most massive air strike” since the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his official Telegram channel. It surpassed the previous largest attack in November 2022, when Russia fired 96 missiles, and the largest this year with 81 missiles on March 9, according to Air Force records.

Fighting on the front line has largely stalled due to winter weather after Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive failed to make a significant breakthrough along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) contact line.

Ukrainian officials have called on the country’s Western allies to equip the country with more air defense facilities. Their appeals are a sign that war fatigue is complicating efforts to maintain support.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the attack should prompt the world to take further action to support Ukraine.

“These widespread attacks on Ukraine’s cities show that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will stop at nothing to achieve his goal of eradicating freedom and democracy,” Sunak said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter . “We must continue to stand by Ukraine – for as long as it takes.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the scale of the attack should make people aware of Ukraine’s ongoing needs.

“Today millions of Ukrainians woke up to the loud sound of explosions,” he wrote on Debate support for Ukraine.”

In Boyarka, near the capital Kiev, debris from a downed drone fell on a house and caused a fire. Andrii Korobka, 47, said his mother was sleeping next to the room where the debris landed and was taken to hospital in shock.

“The war continues and it can affect any home, even if you think your home will never be affected,” Korobka said.

Tetiana Sakhnenko lives next door and said neighbors ran with buckets of water to put out the fire, but it quickly spread. “It’s so scary,” she said.

The attack hit six cities and reports of deaths and damage were received from across the country.

In the eastern city of Dnipro, four maternity hospital patients were rescued from a fire, killing five people and wounding 20, officials said.

In Odessa on the southern coast, falling drone wreckage caused a fire in a multi-story residential building, according to regional director Oleh Kiper. Two people were killed and 15, including two children, were injured, he said.

The mayor of the western city of Lviv, Andrii Sadovyi, said one person was killed there and three schools and a kindergarten were damaged in a drone strike. According to local emergency services, 30 people were injured.

Several dozen rockets were fired at Kiev and more than 30 were intercepted, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kiev military administration. Three people were killed there, he said.

In northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city faced at least three waves of airstrikes, including S-300 and Kh-21 missile launches. One person was killed and at least nine were injured, officials said.

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Dmytro Zhyhinas contributed to this story

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine