Russia targeted Ukraine’s capital and other cities across the country with a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles before dawn on Saturday, killing at least four people and wounding at least a dozen others, Ukrainian officials said.

Air raid alarms were still sounding as emergency crews scrambled to find the dead and wounded – a grimly familiar routine in a country that has been battered by relentless Russian bombing for nearly three years.

Ukraine’s air force said four ballistic missiles and 39 attack drones were used in the attack, adding that two ballistic missiles were shot down in the region of the capital, Kyiv.

In Kyiv, the attack broke a water main near the city center, and water flowed through the streets around the damaged facade of the Lukyanivska metro station. Nearby was a burnt van with smoke still rising from it and two burnt corpses inside.

As the fire burned deep in the industrial building across the street, some firefighters were trying to pull debris from the front of the badly damaged McDonald’s. Others concentrated on the huge chunks of glass, debris and insulation covering the pavement near the metro station – usually where residents seek safety during an attack.

As investigators walked up and down the street, reaching into running water for pieces of shrapnel, local shopkeepers tried to get through the police cordon.

“It’s very scary because this place gets hit again and again. Some things are intercepted, but some always pass. It’s always very scary, especially since my husband has a shop here,” said 30-year-old Yana, who would only give her first name. “It’s just terrifying. There is never peace. We came to check if everything is okay and thank God, everything is okay. We are very happy and relieved.”

The missile attack came after Ukrainian air defense teams spent hours tracking and trying to shoot down attack drones in the sky above the country.

Russia uses drones both to engage targets and wear down air defense teams, and has been sending them into Ukraine almost every night for months. Many are “rogue” drones, without warheads, intended to overwhelm mobile air defense teams that are on watch 24 hours a day.

Kiev is trying to reserve its more sophisticated air defense systems for combating cruise and ballistic missiles, which are both deadlier and more expensive to produce.

One air raid alert had just ended in Kiev shortly before 6am when thunder was heard across the city. Seconds later, air raid sirens began to wail.

Explosions were also recorded in other parts of Ukraine.

In Zaporizhzhya, in the south, at least 10 people were injured, including one critically, after an attack on infrastructure. The city has come under heavy attacks recently, including an attack this month that killed 13 civilians and wounded at least 110 others, according to Ukrainian officials.

The United Nations estimates a 30 percent increase in civilian casualties in 2024 compared to 2023 as Russia seeks to subjugate Ukraine.

Saturday’s attack came a day after Russian missiles hit the city of Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine, killing four people and damaging buildings.

“Every such terrorist attack is another reminder of who we are dealing with,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the attack on Kryvyi Rih, his hometown. “Russia will not stop alone. It can only be stopped by pressing the joints. The pressure of everyone in the world who values ​​life.”

Ukraine has been building its own arsenal of long-range missiles and drones to strike back. In recent weeks, it has stepped up its campaign to target oil and gas facilities deep in Russia.

That campaign continued Saturday, with fires reported at an oil storage facility in the Tula region, south of Moscow, and the Kaluga region, about 100 miles southwest of Moscow.

Ljubov Soludko contributed reporting from Kiev.