The Russian leader had mockingly challenged Ukraine’s Western allies to a missile “duel,” testing their air defenses, during his annual year-end news conference.

Russia says five people have been killed in a Ukrainian strike in the western Kursk region. Ukrainian officials reported earlier that Moscow had launched a fresh missile attack on Kyiv, damaging a building hosting several embassies.

At least three loud blasts were heard in Kyiv shortly before sunrise. Falling missile debris caused damage and sparked fires in three districts, the city administration said.

Kyiv was hit with a Russian ballistic missile attack early Friday morning, resulting in one death and nine injured. Moscow officials have come out and said this attack was a response to a Ukraine attack on Russian soil that use weapons made in the United States.

Ukrainian drones struck a major Russian fuel depot for the second time in just over a week on Sunday, according to a senior Russian regional official, as part of a “massive” cross-border attack on fuel and energy facilities that Kyiv says supply Moscow’s military.

Russia unleashed a barrage of ballistic missiles on Kyiv early Friday, killing at least one person and injuring 12, city officials said.

Putin’s forces launch deadly Kyiv ballistic missile and drone attack - Putin says he is open to talks with Donald Trump, saying ‘we will have things to discuss’