Russia admitted two years into its invasion of Ukraine on Friday that it was "in a state of war," as it launched a massive wave of missile and drone attacks on its neighbour's territory.
Russia fired almost 90 missiles and more than 60 Iranian-designed kamikaze drones, damaging "dozens" of energy facilities, including power stations, in what Ukrainian officials said was an attempt to cripple the country's electricity and heating network.
"We are in a state of war," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview to a pro-Kremlin newspaper, published Friday.
The admission marks an escalation in official language used to describe the conflict, which the Kremlin initially referred to as a "special military operation".
"Yes, it started as a special military operation, but as soon as this bunch was formed there, when the collective West became a participant on Ukraine's side, for us it already became a war," Peskov said.
Moscow often accuses the West of direct participation in the conflict by supplying Ukraine with weapons.
Russian attacks hit at least nine regions -- from Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia near the front lines to Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, hundreds of kilometres away from the fighting.