Smoke rising above residential buildings following a Russian drone and missile attack in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Photo / AFP
Smoke rising above residential buildings following a Russian drone and missile attack in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Photo / AFP
Russia pummelled Ukraine’s capital with drones and missiles as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was headed to the United States to meet President Donald Trump.
Zelenskyy said the attack showed Russia did not want to end its invasion launched in February 2022 that has left tens of thousands of people dead.
Aheadof Zelenskyy’s talks in Florida with Trump, Russia said Kyiv and its European Union backers were trying to “torpedo” a previous US-brokered plan to stop the fighting.
The barrage of drones and missiles killed two people, wounded dozens and cut power and heating to hundreds of thousands of Kyiv-region residents during freezing temperatures, Ukraine authorities said.
Some 2600 residential buildings were hit in the attack, as well as more than 300 schools, pre-schools or social services buildings, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Just as Zelenskyy departed for the US, Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency announced a new probe in which it said some MPs were implicated. It tried to raid parliamentary offices but was blocked by security personnel.
During the Russian onslaught, which lasted for 10 hours, AFP reporters in Kyiv heard loud explosions, some accompanied by bright flashes that turned the sky orange.
The Russian Army said it used hypersonic missiles and drones to target infrastructure and energy facilities “used in the interests of the armed forces of Ukraine”, as well as military sites.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the attack left about 600,000 people without power while authorities said apartment blocks, a university dormitory and a petrol station had been among buildings hit.
Neighbouring Poland, a Nato member, scrambled jets and put air defences on alert during the attack, the Polish military said on social media.
Air traffic at two airports in Poland near the Ukrainian border were temporarily suspended during the strikes, the country’s air navigation agency said.
Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to meet in Florida. Photo / AFP
Florida talks
The meeting in Florida is to focus on a new, 20-point plan that would freeze the war on its current front line but could require Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarised buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelenskyy this week.
The new plan, formulated with Ukraine’s input, is Kyiv’s most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions, and differs markedly from an initial 28-point proposal by Washington last month that adhered to many of Russia’s core demands.
Trump, speaking to Politico, said of Zelensky’s plan that “he doesn’t have anything until I approve it”. He added: “So we’ll see what he’s got”.
Part of the plan includes separate US-Ukraine bilateral agreements on security guarantees, reconstruction and the economy. Zelenskyy said those were changing daily.
“As for sensitive issues, we will discuss [the eastern region of] Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” he added.
On the way to the US, Zelenskyy made a stopover in Canada and was to speak in a video call with EU allies.
Zelenskyy added that the aim of talks was to reduce unresolved issues to a minimum.
“Of course, today there are red lines for Ukraine and Ukrainian people. There are compromise proposals. All of these issues are very sensitive,” he said on X.
Ukraine needed European and US support to acquire weapons and funds, both of which were insufficient, Zelenskyy said – “in particular for the production of weapons and, most importantly, drones”.
In negotiations, Ukraine’s “most important consideration – if we take certain steps – is that security guarantees should be strong and we should be protected”, he said.
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine was working with the US on a roadmap for the country’s reconstruction which he said will require US$700-800 billion ($1.2-1.4 trillion).
