Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, has come under a massive Russian attack with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing one person and wounding scores of people, a day before talks between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump are scheduled to take place.
According to local media, at least 22 people were injured, including two children, in the attack that lasted nearly 10 hours. Kyiv’s air raid was only turned off after 11:00 local time, media reports said.
In a statement on Telegram, the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko said a body was found under the rubble of one damaged building.
The attacks hit industrial and residential targets across several districts in Kyiv, sparking fires and cutting off electricity for more than 4000 residential buildings, a third of the capital.
There were over 10 damaged residential buildings in the attack, said Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, in a post on Telegram. People were being evacuated from under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
A fire broke out in an 18-story residential building in the Dnipro district of the city, and emergency crews rushed to the scene to contain the flames, just as they did for a 24-story residential building in the Darnytsia district.
‘Russian representatives hold long talks; in reality, the Kinzals Shaheds speak for them’
Russia targeted Ukraine with almost 500 drones and 40 missiles of various types, Ukrainian president Voldoymr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.
The main target was energy and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, he said. In some districts of the region, there is no electricity or heating because of the attacks, he added.
The latest attack comes as Zelensky prepares to meet Trump in Florida on Sunday amid ongoing efforts to end Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has said the meeting will discuss issues in the war, including security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
“There have been many questions these days. Where is the Russian response to the proposals to end the war, which were made by the United States and the world?” Zelenskyy said. “Russian representatives hold long talks; in reality, the ‘Kinzal’ (missiles) and ‘Shaheds’ (drones) speak for them.”
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would consider withdrawing troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a peace plan, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarised zone monitored by international forces.
Russia has so far not indicated that it will consent to leaving the territory it currently occupies.
