Russia launched its deadliest wave of attacks against Ukraine’s capital in nine months early yestrday, hours after US President Donald Trump accused Volodymyr Zelensky of harming peace talks in a fresh tirade against his Ukrainian counterpart.
Moscow sent 70 missiles and 145 drones toward Ukraine, mainly targeting Kyiv, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
At least eight people were killed in the bombardment, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said, which emergency services said struck 13 locations in Kyiv, including residential buildings and civilian infrastructure. Ukraine’s emergency services earlier reported that nine people had died and more than 60 had been wounded.
It was the costliest attack on the city since July 2024, when 33 people were killed in an aerial barrage that targeted a hospital and residential districts.
More people are likely trapped under rubble, and a search and rescue operation is underway to find them, according to local and national authorities.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a meeting of the Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias Task Force at the Justice Department in Washington, DC, on Tuesday
Related article
Trump slams Zelensky for refusing to recognize Russian control of Crimea
Russia’s defense ministry said it carried out “a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, land and sea-based weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles on enterprises of the aviation, missile and space, mechanical engineering and armored industries of Ukraine, production of rocket fuel and gunpowder.”
“The strike objectives were achieved. All targets were hit,” Moscow said.
Following the attacks on Kyiv, Zelensky announced he was cutting short his visit to South Africa, where he landed late on Wednesday, to return to Ukraine.
“It is extremely important that everyone around the world sees and understands what is really happening” he said, adding that Ukraine would immediately contact its international partners regarding its requests to strengthen air defenses.
“It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes. This was a proposal from the United States. And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people and evading tough pressure and accountability for its actions,” Zelensky added on social media.