Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Friday targeting areas near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other regions, killing at least two people and injuring multiple others, according to Ukrainian officials.

Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv regional military administration, reported that one person died and at least eight were injured in strikes on three satellite towns around Kyiv - Bucha, Fastiv and Obukhiv. The attack also killed approximately 20 animals when it struck a veterinary clinic. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that nearly 500 drones and cruise missiles targeted Ukraine overnight.

A second fatality occurred in Ukraine's northern Sumy region, where a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a residential building in the city of Shostka, killing one person and hospitalizing three others, including a 29-year-old woman in serious condition, according to regional Governor Oleh Hryhorov.

The strikes came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated his country's continued willingness to consider an Easter ceasefire. The Orthodox Easter holiday falls on April 12 this year according to the Julian calendar used by both Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox churches. Zelenskyy told reporters Thursday that the ceasefire proposal had been communicated to Moscow through U.S. channels, though the Kremlin's response remains unclear.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated earlier this week that Moscow seeks a lasting peace settlement rather than a temporary truce. Last year, President Vladimir Putin unilaterally declared a 30-hour Easter ceasefire, but both sides accused each other of violations.

Russia's Defense Ministry reported shooting down 192 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian territory and occupied Crimea. Ukrainian drone strikes injured two people in Russia's Leningrad region, more than 1,100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, and set fire to a building in an industrial zone that houses a state-owned explosives plant. Twelve people, including three Russian soldiers, were injured in drone attacks on Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.