Volodymyr Zelensky is in the Netherlands on Thursday where he will acceot the International Four Freedoms Award, which has been given to him and the Ukrainian people to honour their courage during four years of war with Russia.

The awards are named after US president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 speech outlining four fundamental human rights: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

In January, the Roosevelt Foundation said it had granted the award to Mr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people in “recognition for their courageous struggle for our freedom and democracy under exceptionally difficult circumstances”.

“They are battling for the security of all Europe and defending, with their lives,” it added.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and prime minister Rob Jetten will attend a ceremony in the historic southern town of Middleburg.

Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv and other settlements in the region have been left without power following a morning Russian attack on energy infrastructure, local officials said on Thursday.

The city of Kherson in the neighbouring region also suffered a power outage, a local official said, adding that the cause for the blackout was being investigated.

We’ll bring more on the attack as it comes in.

Russia hammered civilian areas of Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 80 others in its biggest aerial barrage in almost two weeks, officials said Thursday.

Russia launched nearly 700 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles, primarily targeting civilians, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Thursday on X.

At least four people were killed in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old, with more than 50 others injured, Sybiha said.

Nine people were killed and 23 injured in the southern port city of Odesa, three were killed and around three dozen injured in the central Dnipro region, and one person was killed in Zaporizhzhia in the south.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia should not get any sanctions relief after an overnight attack killed 15 people and left at least 100 injured.

The US has eased sanctions on Russia’s oil trade since the war with Iran disrupted global energy markets.

“Another night has proven that Russia does not deserve any easing of global policy or lifting of sanctions. Russia is betting on war, and the response must be exactly that: we must defend lives with all available means, and we must also apply pressure for the sake of peace with the same full force,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

Zelensky said at least 19 ballistic missiles, as well as cruise missiles, were used by Russia in the overnight barrage. “Most of the ballistic missiles targeted Kyiv. 636 drones and some of the missiles were shot down,” he said.

Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv and ⁠some other settlements in the surrounding ⁠region ​were without ⁠power following a ⁠morning Russian ​attack ⁠on ‌energy infrastructure, local officials said on ‌Thursday.

The city ‌of Kherson, in ⁠the neighbouring region, was also without power, a local official said, ‌adding that ​the ‌cause ⁠for the blackout ⁠was being investigated.

European plans to step up drone supplies to Ukraine are dragging those countries ⁠deeper into a war with Russia, the Russian defence ministry said.

The ministry said it believes governments in a number of EU countries have decided to increase the production and supply of drones to Ukraine, a ⁠move Moscow views as a ​step ⁠that is escalating the conflict.

It published a list of factories and enterprises in several European countries ⁠it alleges manufacture drones or drone components, and gave ​their ⁠addresses, including sites in Britain, ‌Germany, Spain, Italy, Israel and Poland, among others.

“The European public should not only have a clear understanding ‌of the true causes of the ‌threats to their security, but also be aware of the addresses and locations of Ukrainian and joint enterprises producing UAVs and components for ⁠Ukraine within their own countries,” it said.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, said in a subsequent post on X that the list published by the military amounted to a list of potential targets for Russia’s armed forces.

“When strikes ‌become a reality depends on what comes ​next. Sleep well, European partners!” he said.

Britain has announced a major new package of support for Ukraine, worth millions of pounds, as senior ministers engage in a series of high-level international meetings.

In Washington DC, chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed a £752m payment to Ukraine, ahead of a meeting with Yulia Svyrydenko, the Ukrainian prime minister.

The payment, part of a larger £3.36bn loan, is earmarked to procure essential military equipment, including long-range missiles, advanced air defence systems, and drones.

Ms Reeves said: “This funding will help deliver the military equipment Ukraine needs as it defends itself against Russia’s unprovoked war.

Russia unleashed its deadliest attack so far this year on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities overnight, killing 16 people, including a 12-year-old ⁠child, and wounding scores, in drone and missile strikes, officials said this morning.

Fires burned out of control in parts of the capital, sending black smoke billowing into the night sky, as firefighters struggled to control multiple blazes. The morning saw residents and emergency crews cleaning debris scattered around heavily damaged buildings in the city.

Four people, including the child, died in Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Nine people were killed ⁠in Odesa, and two in the southeastern city of Dnipro, where Russian ​attacks ⁠set residential buildings ablaze, according to regional officials.

Air force units shot down or neutralised 31 missiles and 636 drones, but 12 missiles and 20 drones hit in the 24 hours to 7am (0500 GMT) on Thursday, the air force said.

Deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said ‌rescue operations were ongoing and the toll could rise.