KYIV: Russia pounded Kyiv with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least eight people, wounding more than 70 and smashing buildings in the biggest attack on the Ukrainian capital this year.
The attack set off fires and six children were among the wounded, with some people still trapped under rubble, the officials said.
“There has been destruction. The search is continuing for people under rubble,” the State Emergency Service wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X that the “brutal strikes” showed that Russia, not Ukraine, was the obstacle to peace. There was no immediate comment by Russia on the overnight attack.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said eight people had been so far confirmed killed in the capital, although officials had earlier said nine were killed.
The most serious incident was in the Sviatoshynskyi district west of the city centre, where the rescuers continued to clear the rubble from two buildings, Klitschko said.
Pictures posted on Telegram showed rescue teams working with floodlights, moving cautiously through piles of rubble and clambering up ladders extended along the facades of buildings. Police were calling from apartment to apartment to determine whether residents were safe.
The attack came at a critical moment in Russia’s war in Ukraine, which began with Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022, with both Kyiv and Moscow under pressure from the U.S. President Donald Trump to show progress towards a peace deal.
Trump and his administration have threatened to walk away from efforts to broker a ceasefire if no headway is made, leaving European nations looking for ways to support Kyiv.
Talks in London on Wednesday aimed at achieving a deal made “significant progress” towards reaching a “common position on the next steps”, according to a joint statement from Britain, France and Germany. But the talks were downgraded after a last-minute decision by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio not to attend.
Trump appeared to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a lack of progress after Zelenskiy said he would not recognise Russia’s occupation of the Crimea peninsula as part of a peace deal.
Zelenskiy cuts short S.Africa trip
Zelenskiy said he would cut his trip to South Africa short on Thursday and return to Kyiv following the Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Zelenskiy, who has been trying to shore up international support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion, said he would immediately travel back to Ukraine after meeting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will hold all necessary meetings in South Africa to fully inform the country’s political and public leaders about the situation,” Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram app.
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Russia and Ukraine trade blame over faltering peace moves
Russia and Ukraine traded new barbs over faltering peace efforts on Thursday, with Moscow accusing Zelenskiy of blocking diplomacy and Kyiv saying Russian president Vladimir Putin wanted the war to continue.
Trump has said he will walk away from trying to negotiate a settlement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine if Kyiv and Moscow do not make a deal soon.
Control of Crimea, seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, has emerged as a major sticking point between Moscow and Kyiv, and Zelenskiy angered Trump by reiterating on Tuesday that he would not recognise the peninsula as part of Russia.
Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday that Crimea was lost years ago “and is not even a point of discussion.”
Asked about that remark on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily news briefing that Trump’s position “completely corresponds with our understanding and with what we have been saying for a long time.”
Peskov said Russia was continuing to work with the Americans to achieve a peace settlement that ensures Moscow’s interests are taken into account.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a separate briefing it was becoming clearer by the minute that Zelenskiy lacked the capacity to negotiate a deal to end the war.
She accused him of derailing talks on Ukraine on Wednesday in London involving U.S., Ukrainian and European officials, and said the Ukrainian leader was clearly ready to “torpedo the emerging peace process at any cost.”
“Yesterday Zelenskiy categorically refused to make any concessions,” Zakharova said, “and demonstratively expressed his desire to negotiate only a ceasefire – and even then on his own terms.”
Ukraine says it wants a just peace and that Russia is dragging out talks and trying to win time to grab more Ukrainian land in addition to territory it already holds in Crimea and four eastern Ukrainian regions.
Ukrainian officials stepped up their criticism after an overnight Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv that killed at least eight people.
“Yesterday’s Russian maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions, combined with these brutal strikes, show that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Syhiba wrote on X.
“Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war.”
Differences over Crimea
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 following a disputed referendum condemned by the United Nations General Assembly, the U.S., Ukraine and many other countries.
Putin said at the time that Crimea, which changed hands between Russia and Ukraine during Soviet rule in 1954, has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia.
Zelenskiy said recognising Crimea as part of Russia would violate Ukraine’s constitution. Its annexation has been recognised by few countries.
Crimea is home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet, and Russia has used the peninsula to launch missile and drone attacks on Ukraine during the war. Kyiv has also fired missiles at Crimea.
Ukraine says it is committed to seeking a full and unconditional ceasefire. After talks with the U.S, Ukraine agreed to a 30-day truce last month but Putin responded with a list of conditions and questions, saying such a pause would give Ukraine the chance to mobilise more soldiers and acquire more weapons.
Zakharova said decisions by European countries to continue supplying weapons to Kyiv were encouraging Zelenskiy to pursue the war, regardless of casualties, and that their attitude showed some European countries were frightened by the prospect of a Russian victory.
European countries supplying arms to Kyiv say it needs weapons to defend itself following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 in which tens of thousands of people have been killed, millions have been displaced and towns across Ukraine devastated.
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