Trump pushes for 'senseless killing' in Ukraine to end after deadly Russian strike on Kyiv

US President Donald Trump wants to secure a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine and stop the "senseless killing," the White House said on Thursday after Russia launched one of its deadliest aerial attacks on Kyiv in recent months, killing at least 21 people.

Responding to the overnight strike, a US official told AFP that Trump remained focused on ending the conflict despite the latest escalation.

"President Trump has a humanitarian heart and wants this war settled so the senseless killing ends," the official said.

"The President and his team have worked very hard to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, and he remains optimistic that we'll ultimately get a peace deal done," the official added.

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The statement came after Russia launched a massive overnight barrage of drones and missiles on the Ukrainian capital, damaging residential buildings, overwhelming air defences and forcing tens of thousands of civilians into underground shelters.

Ukraine's emergency services said at least 21 people were killed and 85 injured, including two children, in what Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described as the largest attack on the capital in recent months.

Kyiv urged its allies to send more air defence.

"Air defence supplies for Ukraine are an absolute and critical priority," Zelenskyy said in a post on Facebook.

"We also very much count on a decision by the United States regarding licences for Patriots."

Ukraine is seeking to manufacture munitions for the US-made missile interceptor system, one of its only ways of defending against Russian ballistic missiles, although defence experts say it will take time to set up production domestically.

Struggling to sleep

Russia fired 496 drones and 74 missiles, including hard-to-intercept ballistic projectiles, Ukraine's air force said.

It said it shot down 48 of the missiles and 476 drones.

"Half the building has been destroyed. The roof is gone," a 32-year-old factory worker Sabina Mambetova, standing outside the rubble of her home in the eastern Darnytskyi district told AFP.

"I've been left without an apartment, alone with my child. I don't know what to do now."

Some 52,000 people, including 4,500 children packed into underground stations to shelter from the barrage -- the highest number in recent years, according to the Kyiv metro.

Others hunkered down in basements or corridors through the night as blasts shook buildings across the city.

"It's hard. My child is used to sleeping in complete silence and darkness," 32-year-old doctor Kateryna Kucheryava told AFP from the metro as the attack was unfolding.

"I picked her up and carried her down. She woke up and now she's not sleeping anymore."

Along station platforms, locals set up tents and lay on air mattresses and camping chairs, while mothers tried to sleep clutching babies to their chests.

Zelenskyy cuts short visit

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said she would propose new sanctions on Moscow over the attack.

But the Kremlin showed no signs it would back down, more than four years into an invasion that has killed hundreds of thousands.

The attack came hours after Zelensky cut short a visit to Dublin on Wednesday, citing intelligence reports of an impending Russian strike.

Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has been preparing this massive strike against Ukraine for some time now".

Ukraine has stepped up long-range drone attacks inside Russia in recent weeks, targeting energy infrastructure and military targets.

Russian officials have reported repeated strikes in border regions, while Moscow has said its air defences have intercepted hundreds of drones from Ukraine in recent days.

US efforts to broker an end to the conflict have so far failed.

With inputs from agencies