KYIV: Russian missiles and artillery pounded cities across Ukraine early Thursday, sparking fires, killing at least three people and trapping others under the rubble of destroyed buildings, authorities said, as Poland said it would stop providing weapons to its ally amid a trade dispute.

The early-morning wave of missile strikes on what’s known as the International Day of Peace was Russia’s largest in over a month, and came as world leaders meet at United Nations General Assembly in New York. In a speech there, Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced Russia as “a terrorist state.”

Zelenskyy was to meet Thursday with President Joe Biden and congressional leaders in Washington with an additional $ 24 billion aid package hanging in the balance.

Poland, which has been a major supporter of Ukraine, said it would stop transferring weapons to its neighbour as it works to modernise its own military, but denied the decision was linked to a simmering dispute over a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the decision would not affect NATO and US weapons transfers through Poland.

Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across Ukraine, as Russia launched dozens of missiles and, likely used shorter-range artillery to pound the southern city of Kherson. Three people were killed in Kherson Thursday and at least four injured after a residential building was hit, the Defence Ministry said on social media.

Seven people were injured in Kyiv, including a 9-year-old girl, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said, as missile strikes blew out windows in buildings and cars and left fires burning around crumpled metal wreckage.