Sept 17 (Reuters) - Russia battered the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities with missiles and drones overnight, injuring more than two dozen people, officials said on Thursday, hours after the U.S. Congress approved a major sanctions bill targeting Moscow.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the sweeping sanctions and tariff legislation, championed by late Senator Lindsey Graham, designed to tighten the economic squeeze on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The bill has now been sent to President Donald Trump to sign into law.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the passage of the bill, calling it, alongside existing measures, an "extremely powerful tool" that could help force Russia to end a war now entering its fifth year.
"It is symbolic that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act on the night of yet another Russian attack on Ukraine with ballistic and other missiles and drones," Zelenskiy said.
Moscow has escalated its air attacks in recent months on Ukraine, which runs critically low on U.S.-designed interceptors needed to down ballistic missiles.
The overnight barrage included Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles and nearly 160 drones, Ukraine's air force said on Thursday.
It did not specify the number and whether any of the more deadly ballistic missiles were intercepted.
Zelenskiy said tougher sanctions were essential to force Russia to return to the negotiating table, after U.S.-backed peace talks unravelled earlier this year.
"Sanctions must be strong so that all efforts for peace – including our joint diplomatic efforts with the United States, Europe, and our other friends – can succeed," he said.
DAMAGE IN EIGHT REGIONS
Zelenskiy said damage was recorded in eight regions across Ukraine, with Moscow hitting energy infrastructure in the Sumy and Odesa regions.
Russian defence ministry said Moscow had struck vessels used by the Ukrainian military.
In Kyiv, the wail of air raid alerts and boom of air defences sounded through the night. Explosions were heard on Thursday morning as an attack with jet-powered drones continued.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 18 people, including two children, were wounded in the city.
Most of them where in a damaged 16-storey apartment building, officials said. Damage was recorded in four city districts, including warehouse facilities, and petrol station, which are now a frequent target of attacks.
The strike also temporarily disrupted water supply on the left bank of the Dnipro river.
Six people, including two children, were wounded in the Black Sea port of Odesa, where the attack damaged a 19-storey apartment building, residential buildings and other sites, officials said.
Three others were wounded in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia where a missile strike hit industrial facilities, triggering fire at one of them, authorities there said on Telegram.
Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russia, targeting oil facilities and logistics infrastructure to try to undermine Moscow's ability to wage war.
A Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, causing a fire that was later doused, the region's governor said on Thursday.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk, Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Christian Schmollinger and Shri Navaratnam)
