The barrage appeared to be one of the largest recent assaults in Ukraine’s campaign to damage Russia’s war machine on its home territory.

Ukraine struck Russian regions with a major drone and missile attack overnight, damaging at least two factories and forcing schools to close in a major southern Russian city, according to Russian officials and media.

Flight restrictions were imposed at five airports in Russia after Ukraine unleashed an attack reportedly with more than 200 drones and ballistic missiles. Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region in western Russia, said Ukraine had launched a major missile attack but did not say which missiles had been used.

The Russian military accused Kyiv of using US and British-supplied missiles and promised the strikes would "not go unanswered".

Ukrainian air defence and mobile drone hunter groups shot down 58 out of 80 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks on Tuesday, the air force said in a statement.

Ukraine claimed Saturday to have struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in a drone attack, starting a fire at the facility more than 700 miles into Russian territory.

Ukraine’s continued focus on Kursk shows how important Kyiv believes it is to hold on to Russian land, especially if Trump pushes both sides to the negotiating table.

Russia says it has detected a shift from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his team towards recognising the "realities" on the ground in Ukraine, and sees this as a welcome sign as it prepares to study his plan for ending the war.