14 killed in drone, missile strikes as Trump’s peace push stalls
Kyiv, Ukraine – Russia sparked a massive night attack against the Ukrainian capital which killed at least 14 people, three of whom were, and injured 38, announced Thursday early Thursday.
The combined strikes were the most important to hit kyiv since President Donald Trump intensified his push for the end of the Kremlin War, an effort that blocked last week. In total, 629 drones and missiles were fired in the country overnight, said the Air Force of Ukraine, one of the greatest in the war.
The attacks of the day are clearly showed that Russia has chosen “ballistics on the negotiation table,” said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an article on X.
The three children killed were 2, 14 and 17 years old, said that Tymur Tkachenko, the chief of the city of kyiv. Six other minors were injured, he said in a post on Telegram.
‘Like a nightmare’
Russian strikes have reached more than 20 locations in kyiv, damaging houses and leaving around 60,000 residents without electricity, officials said.
Several powerful explosions have been heard by NBC News at the center of kyiv, a rare event in the heart of the Ukrainian capital since the start of the large -scale invasion of Russia.
The rescuers withdrew people trapped under the rubble, the toll had to increase.
Iryna Chernynuk said she had been awakened by “a powerful thunder sound” and rushed to the refuge with her dog.
When she emerged, she found the windows of her apartment intact, but those of her neighbors exploded.
“How would it have happened if we had stayed at home?” Chernyuk, 28, Kyiv blogger, told NBC News. “It’s like a nightmare.”
Trump diplomacy stands
Zelenskyy reiterated his call to “difficult new sanctions” against Russia, hoping that the United States could target Putin’s economy to force him to the table. “All deadlines have already been missed; dozens of diplomacy possibilities have been spoiled,” he said on X.
The United States had expressed confidence by advancing with a summit between Putin and Zelenskyy, but that seemed an increasingly distant perspective because the Kremlin shows little emergency sign or a desire to compromise on its requests.
While Trump gave more time on both sides at war, Ukraine has put its own campaign targeting Russian refineries and oil infrastructure in order to increase the pressure.
The attacks have led to doping and gas stations in certain Russian dry regions.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that it had intercepted and destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones in the Russian regions during the night, notably Samara in the southwest of the country where videos have shown a fire refinery.
Russia has meanwhile intensified its air attacks against Ukrainian cities. In July, a massive strike on kyiv killed at least 31 people, the deadliest attack on the capital since this year.
And Ukraine recognized for the first time on Tuesday that Russian troops had entered the region of the center-east of Dnipropetrovsk, but said that they had been pushed while the fighting continued nearly two villages.
On Friday, senior Ukrainian officials should meet their counterparts in New York for interviews, while kyiv seeks to eliminate the security guarantees that his allies can offer.
Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday the appointment of the new country ambassador to the United States, former senior minister Olha Stefanishyny.
Dyna Mayer reported kyiv and Peter Guo from Hong Kong.
