Russia hammered civilian areas of Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in an attack that stretched for hours from daytime into the night, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 80 others as terrified residents cowered in their homes, officials said Thursday.

Russia launched nearly 700 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles, primarily targeting civilians, in its biggest aerial barrage in almost two weeks, authorities said.

Tetiana Sokol, a 54-year-old resident of Kyiv, said two missiles hit near her home and she took cover with her dog in the hallway as flashes lit up the night and windows shattered from the blast wave.

“On the third attack everything broke, everything flew, we were shocked, we didn’t know where to run. I grabbed whatever came to hand and ran away with the dog,” she told The Associated Press. “I still can’t find the cats in the house, they climbed out somewhere, I don’t even know. No windows, nothing, the dog is still walking around in stress.”

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Moscow’s forces have hit civilian areas almost daily since its all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, with the regular assaults occasionally punctuated by massive attacks. More than 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have died in the strikes, the United Nations says.

Zelenskyy on a mission to improve air defenses

The latest bombardment came in the wake of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 48-hour trip this week to Germany, Norway and Italy in an urgent search for more air defense systems that can stop Russian missiles.

Ukraine has developed a significant domestic arms industry, especially in the production of drones and missiles, but it can’t yet match the sophistication of U.S. Patriot air defense systems. Ukraine’s top diplomatic priority is securing allies’ help to buy and build more and better air defenses, Zelenskyy said this week.

Cash-strapped Ukraine also needs the speedy disbursement of a promised loan from the European Union of 90 billion euros ($106 billion) that has been blocked by Hungary.

Ukraine fears the Iran war is burning through stockpiles of the advanced American-made systems it needs, and has argued against a U.S. temporary waiver on Russian oil sanctions that Kyiv says is helping finance the Kremlin’s war effort.

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“Another night has proven that Russia does not deserve any easing of global policy or lifting of sanctions,” Zelenskyy said on X.

He thanked Germany, Norway and Italy for new agreements this week on supporting Ukraine’s air defense. Officials are also working with the Netherlands on additional supplies, he said.

At the same time, he noted that some partner countries haven’t followed through on pledges of military support.

“I have instructed the Commander of the Air Force to contact those partners who earlier committed to providing missiles for Patriot and other systems,” Zelenskyy said.

Other areas of Ukraine and Russia were also hit

The bombardment was the biggest in weeks. Last month, Russia fired 948 drones and 34 missiles in the space of 24 hours in the largest assault of the war on civilian areas.

At least four people were killed overnight in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old, with more than 50 others injured, according to authorities. Officials said the attack damaged 17 apartment buildings, 10 private homes, as well as a hotel, office center, car dealership, gas station and a shopping mall in the capital.

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

“Such attacks cannot be normalized. These are war crimes that must be stopped and their perpetrators held to account,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

Ukraine’s air force said air defenses shot down or disabled 667 out of 703 incoming targets, including 636 Shahed-type drones and other uncrewed aerial vehicles.

It said 20 strike drones and 12 missiles hit 26 locations.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Krasnodar regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev reported that a 14-year-old girl and a woman were killed in Ukrainian strikes in the Black Sea port of Tuapse.

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He said that attacks damaged six apartment buildings, 24 private houses and three schools. Drone fragments also fell near the port of Tuapse.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its air defenses downed 207 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The oil crisis triggered by the war in Iran has threatened flight disruption this summer, with many holidaygoers now considering train travel instead — or even a mix of both.

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But is it worth it? Europe in Motion looked at price differences on some of the continent’s routes.

Specifically, we looked at direct trains with the lowest price and with a reasonable journey length — meaning that the time difference between the cheapest and most expensive option doesn’t exceed one hour per trip.

Additionally, the departure time must allow passengers to reach the station from the city without using a car, meaning that public transport must be operating.

Train vs plane: What’s most convenient on similar routes?

British trains remain eye-waterlingly expensive. On the London-Edinburgh route, which typically takes between four and 4 1/2 hours, tickets (€153) can cost up to three times more than a one-hour and 20-minute low-cost flight (€53) in the same period.

The average price per kilometre is also roughly double that of other European routes of similar length.

Italy comes in second by a wide margin, based on the route between its two biggest cities, Rome and Milan – usually a three-hour journey by high-speed rail.

Here, train and plane tickets tend to level out, with flights sometimes edging slightly higher than trains (€93 vs 127), especially at the weekend.

Third-placed Germany offers a reasonable €0.15 per kilometre on the Berlin-Munich route, which typically lasts a little more than four hours.

If booking around a month in advance, trains are still slightly cheaper than planes (€91vs €137).

For those who aren’t in a rush, France seems even better value. On the Paris-Bordeaux route (around two hours and 15 minutes), we’re looking at €0.14 per kilometre — while flying over the same weekend might cost at least three times as much.

Prices look competitive on other major routes too, like Paris-Lyon or Paris-Marseille, thanks to strong competition on the rail network from private operators like Ouigo or Trenitalia.

That said, timing does matter. Prices can swing, and booking further ahead doesn’t always mean cheaper fares. The same Paris-Bordeaux route, booked three months in advance, can end up costing €50 more.

Madrid-Barcelona (three hours and 15 minutes) looks like the standout deal of them all, with a cost per kilometre of just €0.13. Fly over the same period and expect to pay more than double.

Greece also has competitive prices on the north-south Thessaloniki-Athens route, coming at €69 for a 500km-long journey lasting a little more than five hours.

How easy is it to travel and move around by train in Europe?

For those wondering how effective it is to move around Europe by train, we can look to Eurostat’s latest report on European transport for the answer — and yes, train travel is relatively easy.

Railway density on the continent is roughly 58 km of railways every 1,000 square kilometres.

Moving around is particularly easy in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg, the European countries with the most extensive networks in Europe, with more than 100 km of railway per 100,000 square kilometres

Germany is also one of the countries where the network grew most in the past decade, up 6 km per 1,000 km² of land area.

Norway, Greece, and Finland, on the other hand, rank at the bottom with fewer than 20 kilometres. Hence, it may not be a surprise that Greece is the EU nation that travels the least by train, covering only about 70 km a year, domestically.

Which European citizens use trains the most?

In the EU, 95% of that traffic takes place on domestic railways.

The beating heart of the rail network lies on a central-western axis, as Austrian, Hungarian and French passengers rack up the most kilometres, between 1,400 and 1,500, according to Eurostat.

The average EU citizen travels around 1,000 km per year. The total kilometres travelled reach 443 billion. If you were to cover that distance in space, you could take 500 round-trips between Earth and Jupiter.

UK data is not included in the Eurostat report, but the average is very similar to the EU’s. Nevertheless, rail traffic there is mostly concentrated in London and the south east, according to the Office of Rail and Road 2025 data.