BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Russia launched a sustained barrage of ballistic missiles and attack drones against Ukraine’s capital early Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 27 others, Ukrainian authorities said, in an assault that lasted for hours and rattled the city with repeated explosions. The strike came just one day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year war.
Air raid sirens wailed across Kyiv in the early morning darkness as explosions echoed through multiple districts. Emergency crews raced from site to site as fires broke out in residential neighborhoods and debris littered streets. Ukrainian officials said the attack struck at least seven locations in the capital and damaged more than 10 apartment buildings, underscoring the toll on civilians.
Zelenskyy, who was preparing to travel to Florida for talks with Trump on Sunday, said the assault sent a clear message about Moscow’s intentions. Speaking after a stop in Canada, he described the strike as a direct response to diplomatic efforts. “This attack is Russia’s answer to our peace efforts,” he said. “It shows that President Vladimir Putin does not want peace.”
While in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Zelenskyy met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who announced an economic assistance package worth $1.8 billion. The funding is intended to help unlock additional financing from international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to support Ukraine’s reconstruction and long-term development. Carney condemned the overnight attack, calling it a stark reminder of why international backing for Ukraine remains critical.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it carried out a “massive strike” using long-range precision weapons launched from land, air and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, as well as drones. The ministry claimed the targets were energy facilities and sites linked to Ukraine’s military and defense industry. Ukrainian officials, however, said residential buildings were hit and civilian infrastructure suffered extensive damage.
According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia fired 519 drones and 40 missiles in the overnight assault, with Kyiv as the primary target. Zelenskyy said energy facilities and civilian infrastructure were deliberately targeted, leaving parts of the capital without electricity and heating in the middle of winter. In the wider Kyiv region, strikes damaged both industrial and residential buildings, and emergency services reported rescuing at least one person trapped beneath the rubble of a destroyed home in the Vyshhorod area.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the human cost was mounting as rescue operations continued. Two children were among those wounded. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Military Administration, said one body was recovered from the debris of a damaged building, though authorities had not yet confirmed the circumstances of the death.
Residents described scenes of fear and devastation. Olena Karpenko, 52, said she heard a man screaming as he died during the attack, a sound she said she could not forget. She recalled hearing an initial blast near a thermal power plant, followed by a much stronger explosion that shattered windows and was followed by a direct strike on her building. Fires erupted in a high-rise apartment block in the Dnipro district, while other residential towers in the Darnytsia, Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi districts were also hit, prompting mass evacuations as firefighters worked to contain the flames.
Moscow said the strikes were carried out in response to what it described as Ukrainian attacks on civilian sites inside Russia. Earlier on Saturday, Russian officials reported that air defenses had downed several Ukrainian drones over regions including Krasnodar and Adygeya, with dozens more intercepted later in the day. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 20 drones heading toward the Russian capital were shot down, though he reported no casualties or damage.
The escalation had ripple effects beyond Ukraine’s borders. Poland placed its air defenses on high alert, scrambling fighter jets and temporarily closing airports in the eastern cities of Lublin and Rzeszow near the Ukrainian border. Polish military officials said there was no violation of national airspace, and civil aviation authorities later announced that airport operations had resumed. It was not immediately clear why the alert was triggered, given that the Russian strikes were focused on Kyiv, far from Poland.
As the military situation intensified, Zelenskyy emphasized that diplomacy remained a priority, even under fire. He said his upcoming talks with Trump would focus on minimizing unresolved issues while safeguarding Ukraine’s core interests. In comments shared with journalists, he said security guarantees would be at the top of the agenda, reiterating his position that Ukraine needs firm assurances similar to NATO’s collective defense principle, under which an attack on one ally is treated as an attack on all.
Territorial issues are expected to be among the most sensitive topics in the discussions. Zelenskyy said any talks would address the future of the Donetsk region and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but he again drew a firm line on sovereignty. Ukraine, he said, would never recognize any occupied territory as Russian under any circumstances.
The overnight attack, one of the largest on Kyiv in recent months, cast a heavy shadow over the diplomatic efforts set to unfold, highlighting the stark contrast between renewed fighting on the ground and attempts to chart a path toward peace.
Original article
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