Russian strike on the Kyiv region kills 4 and wounds at least 15, with peace talks stalled
kyiv, Ukraine — A combined missile and drone attack on the kyiv region killed at least four people and injured at least 15 overnight Saturday, according to the head of the regional administration in the Ukrainian capital.
Three of the injured are in critical condition, two of whom are undergoing surgery, Mykola Kalashnyk reported on Saturday. The attack affected four districts, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, businesses and critical infrastructure, Kalashnyk added in a post on social media.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the main target of the nighttime strikes was “energy infrastructure in the kyiv region.” He said Russia launched about 430 drones of various types overnight, as well as 68 missiles.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that the nighttime strikes targeted energy and industrial facilities serving Ukraine’s armed forces, as well as military airfields.
The strikes came days after the United States postponed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled for this week, citing the war in the Middle East.
As American and Israeli missiles and bombs rained down on Iran, Russia responded with words of outrage but took no action to support its ally. Moscow’s failure to help another ally, after the ouster of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in 2024 and the US arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January, has exposed the limits of its influence – but the Kremlin hopes to reap the rewards of the war in Iran.
Russia is already profiting from soaring global energy prices and may hope that the war in the Middle East will distract attention from Ukraine and deplete Western arsenals.
Zelensky on Saturday called on kyiv’s Western partners to pay “one hundred percent attention” to the need to increase production of air defense missiles.
“Russia will try to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause even greater destruction here in Europe, in Ukraine,” he said in a social media post.
“We must be fully aware of the real level of the threat and prepare accordingly, namely: in Europe we must expand the production of air defense missiles, including those capable of countering ballistic threats, as well as all other systems necessary to truly protect lives,” he said.
kyiv is also awaiting White House approval for a major drone production deal proposed by Ukraine last year, Zelenskyy said Thursday, as the countries scramble to modernize their air defenses after the war in Iran exposed their shortcomings.
Also on Thursday, Zelensky criticized the 30-day U.S. waiver of Russian oil sanctions amid the Middle East war, saying it is “not the right decision” and will not help stop Russia’s more than four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
“This easing by the United States could provide Russia with about $10 billion for the war,” Zelensky said. “It certainly doesn’t contribute to peace.”
On Saturday night, Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery and port in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, local Russian officials reported.
Authorities in Krasnodar said three people were injured in a strike at Port Kavkaz, a port opposite Crimea used for transporting liquefied natural gas and grain. A service vessel and the jetty infrastructure were damaged, they said in a social media post. One person was hospitalized, they later added in a separate article.
Falling drone debris also sparked a fire at the Afipsky oil refinery in the region, authorities said in another Telegram article. They said no one was injured, but did not immediately comment on the damage.
Earlier this week, Russian and Ukrainian officials both claimed progress on the front line, with Ukraine saying it had pushed back Moscow’s forces on the front line and the Kremlin insisting that Russia’s invasion of its neighbor was progressing.
