KYIV (AFP) — A massive Russian drone and missile barrage killed at least 16 people in cities across Ukraine, more than four years into the war with peace talks stalled, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.

Agence France-Presse journalists heard loud bangs echoing over the capital during the night and saw huge plumes of black smoke rising over central Kyiv at dawn.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 659 drones in the attack and 44 missiles, over the last 24 hours, adding that its air defense units downed 636 drones and 31 missiles.

Officials across the country said 16 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the attacks in several regions.

“Another night has proven that Russia does not deserve any easing of global policy or lifting of sanctions,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media after the attack.

Kyiv has also stepped up its long-range drone and missile attacks on Russia, and Ukrainian strikes overnight killed two people, officials said.

A 14-year-old girl and a young woman were killed overnight in a Ukrainian drone attack on the resort city of Tuapse in southern Russia, regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev said Thursday.

Kondratiev said earlier that two children aged 5 and 14 had been killed in the strike, which also left five people injured.

After clearing the rubble, “it has been confirmed that one of the victims was a 14-year-old girl; the second victim was a young woman, whose identity is currently being established,” the governor’s updated statement said.

Drone debris hit civilian sites across the Black Sea Krasnodar region, including housing, a music school and a kindergarten, Kondratiev added.

Ukrainian authorities reported at least 16 dead and 107 injured in Russian strikes across the country from Wednesday into Thursday.

The Russian army said its forces intercepted 207 drones across the western and southern regions, in total.

Moscow has fired hundreds of drones on its neighbor almost nightly since the beginning of the war, with Kyiv regularly carrying out strikes within Russia in response to its attacks.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, had killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions, marking the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

The Kremlin’s latest deadly attack comes after the end of a 32-hour Orthodox Easter truce marred by accusations of mass violations, according to both countries.

Peace talks spearheaded by the United States to end the war now grinding through its fifth year have been derailed by US and Israeli war with Iran.