Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia.

In Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine, at least four people were injured following the latest Russian attack, according to the Chernihiv Regional Military administration.

Three people were treated at the scene while another man was hospitalized, officials said.

Local resident, Larysa Yukhymivna, described the attack as "very bad".

"I was so scared, terribly scared," she added.

Local authorities said multi-storey buildings, private homes, a kindergarten, a local business, infrastructure facilities and civilians’ vehicles were damaged as a result of the attack.

Due to strikes on energy infrastructure, around 40,000 people were left without electricity, local authorities reported.

The Russian barrage was one of the fiercest of the three-year war, lasting several hours, striking six Ukrainian territories, and killing at least four people and injuring about 50 others, Ukrainian officials said Friday.

Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv and someone who was pulled from the rubble of an apartment building in a northwestern city.

In the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk at least 16 people were injured as strikes caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

Emergency workers and police evacuated five people and several pets from a damaged nine-story apartment building.

The attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack Sunday on Russian military airfields.

It was also hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.

Trump’s comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signaled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts.

Ukrainian cities have come under regular bombardment since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.