Massive Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv kills more than a dozen people, Zelenskyy says

Kyiv, Ukraine – A massive attack of Russian drones and missiles struck the capital of Ukraine early Thursday, including a rare strike in the city center, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens of others, President Volodyr Zelenskyy said. It was the first major Russian combined attack on Kyiv in a few weeks, and it comes as Peace efforts led by the United States to finish The three -year war struggle to gain ground.

“Already 14 people are known to have been killed as a result of the Russian attack, including 3 children. A horrible and deliberate murder of civilians,” said Zelenskyy in an article on social networks. “The Russians do not choose to end the war, only new strikes … It is crucial now that the world reacts firmly. Russia must arrest this war, it began and continues. For the rejection of the ceasefire and for the constant attempts of Russia to get out of strength and pressure.”

Russia has launched 598 drones and shot lures and 31 missiles of different types across the country, according to Ukraine Air Force, which made it one of the largest attacks since Moscow launched its large -scale invasion on February 24, 2022. The forces of Ukraine have shot and neutralized all, except 41 weapons, said its air force.

Zelenskyy said dozens of buildings, including houses, offices and other civil companies, were one of those who were affected by the Russian assault, as well as a building “where the European Union delegation is located in Ukraine”.

Moscow denies having targeted civilians, but has increased strikes in recent months in cities and cities far from the war front lines.

Russia has launched lure drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, said Tymur Tkachenko, the chief of the city of kyiv. At least 20 locations in seven Kyiv districts have been affected. Nearly 100 buildings have been damaged, including a shopping center and thousands of windows have been broken, he said.

The Russian strikes have struck the central part of kyiv, one of the few Russian attacks has reached the heart of the city since the start of the large -scale invasion. Residents cleaned glass and debris in damaged buildings. The smoke has extinguished from the crumbled column of a five -story residential building in the Darnytskyi district which suffered a direct blow. A bitterness of burning material floated in the air while the firefighters worked to contain the fire.

In the midst of destruction, emergency speakers looked for survivors and extracted bodies. Crowds of residents were standing nearby, waiting for relatives to be recovered from the rubble. Bodies in black bags have been placed on the side of the building.

Residents of the neighborhood said it was not the first time that their district was targeted.

Oleksandr Khilko arrived on the scene after a missile struck the residential building where his sister lives. He heard people of people trapped under the rubble and released three survivors, including a boy.

“It is inhuman and striking civilians,” he said, his clothes covered with dust and the tips of his black soot fingers. “With each cell in my body, I want this war to end as soon as possible. I expect, but each time the alarm of the air raid sounds, I’m afraid.”

The next steps are not clear while Trump pushes to end the Ukraine War

Thursday’s attack was the first big Russian drone and missile combined on Kyiv since the president Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska Earlier this month to discuss the end of the war in Ukraine.

While a diplomatic push for peace seemed to gain momentum shortly after this meeting, few details appeared on the next steps.

Western leaders, as well as Zelenskyy, accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops moved deeper in Ukraine. This week, the Ukrainian military leaders conceded that the Russian forces had entered an eighth region of Ukraine seeking to capture more land.

Zelenskyy hopes that more difficult American sanctions paralyze the Russian economy if Putin does not demonstrate the gravity of the end of the war – demands that he reiterated after the attack on Thursday.

“All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of diplomacy possibilities have ruined,” said Zelenskyy.

Trump bristled this week at Putin’s Stalling on an American proposal for direct peace talks with Zelenskyy. He said on Friday that he expects to decide on the next steps in two weeks if direct talks – that Moscow has so far excluded – are not scheduled. The day before, Mr. Trump suggested that he could change American politics On Ukraine use weapons provided by the United States to strike in Russia.

In an article on his own social media platform, Trump said it was: “Very hard, even impossible, to win a war without attacking a country of the invaders. … There is no chance of winning! It’s like that with Ukraine and Russia.”

He said that his predecessor, Joe Biden, “would not let Ukraine retaliate, defend only,” adding, with no other explanation, that there were “interesting times to come !!!”

In November, just a few weeks before giving the presidency to Mr. Trump, Biden has changed longtime policy This had indeed prevented Ukraine from using missiles provided in the United States to hit deeply in Russia. Although no announcement was made, the Wall Street Journal reported during the weekend that the Pentagon had “since blocked the use by Ukraine of long-range missiles to strike in Russia”.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that it had killed 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, while waiting, mainly in the southwest of the country. A drone attack sparked a fire in the Afipsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, local officials said, while a second fire was reported in the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in the Samara region.

Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks in order to weaken the war economy of Russia, which increases service stations in certain Russian regions and prices.