A Ukrainian bomb disposal expert works to recover an unexploded Russian missile after an overnight attack on a residential area in Kyiv. (EPA Images pic)

KYIV: Russia pounded Ukraine with waves of missiles and drones in one of its most "vile strikes" on Wednesday, president Volodymyr Zelensky said, killing at least 28 people, including children, and damaging industrial facilities and energy infrastructure.

Interior minister Ivan Vyhivskyi put the country-wide death toll at 28.

The heaviest losses were in Pryluky in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region, where a Russian missile obliterated a five-storey residential building.

Regional Governor Vyacheslav Chaus said 20 people died in the attack, including five children.