Zelenskiy accuses Russia of 'Easter escalation' as massive attack kills two

KYIV - A large-scale daytimeRussian strike killed at least two people in Ukraine on Friday, officials said, in what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced as an "Easter escalation", as Moscow shifts tactics to avoid Ukrainian air defenses.

Since the beginning of the war more than four years ago, Russia has mainly carried out major drone and missile strikes at night. In recent weeks, it has repeatedly sent hundreds of drones and missiles during the daytime, setting a record for the number of weapons used in one such strike on March 24.

On Friday, drones struck residential and civilian infrastructure in central Zhytomyr and Kyiv regions, killing one person in each, their governors said on the Telegram app.

"Essentially, the Russians have only intensified their strikes, turning what should have been silence in the skies into an Easter escalation," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X.

Earlier this week, Zelenskiy proposed a halt in strikes for Easter holidays, and said Ukraine would reciprocate if Russia stopped attacks on the energy sector. Moscow rejected the idea.

"The purpose of these daytime strikes is clear. Russia is deliberately trying to increase the number of civilian victims, disrupt life, spread fear, and damage Ukraine's infrastructure," Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X.

STRIKE HITS VETERINARY CLINIC

Ukraine has destroyed 515 out of 542 drones and 26 out of 37 missiles launched by Russia since Thursday evening, Ukraine's Air Force said on Telegram.

"We can see that the enemy is using new routes, new drones which they are constantly modernising, and new tactics," Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on state television on Friday.

In the Kyiv region, a veterinary clinic was damaged in the strike alongside private houses, residential and administrative buildings. Around 20 animals were killed, Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.

In Zhytomyr region, 18 buildings - including houses - were destroyed and over 100 were damaged, authorities said.

Poland has scrambled fighter jets even though there was no record of Polish airspace having been violated, its military said.

In the northeastern region of Kharkiv, two people were killed, and over two dozen others were injured in missile, bomb and drone attacks over the past 24 hours, according to the region's Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

"The current series of strikes has been perhaps the most intense since the start of the war and certainly the heaviest since the beginning of the year," Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

-Reporting by Max Hunder, Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Sharon Singleton/Reuters