Russian drone and missile attack kills seven amid stalled talks

A firefighter working outside a residential building after Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv. Photo / AFP

Ukraine said on Monday that Russia had fired dozens of drones and missiles at the country, killing six in Kyiv and one person in Bila Tserkva.

A flurry of diplomatic efforts to end the three-year war have stalled, with the last direct meeting between Kyiv and Moscow almost three weeks ago and no follow-up talks scheduled.

AFP journalists heard the buzzing of drones flying over the centre of the capital and explosions ringing out during the overnight barrage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said six people were killed in Kyiv and another person was left dead in Bila Tserkva just outside the capital.

Zelenskyy said Russia had launched 352 unmanned aerial vehicles – including Iranian-designed drones – and 16 missiles at Ukraine, adding that some of the munitions were provided to Moscow by North Korea.

“Everyone in countries neighbouring Russia, Iran and North Korea should be thinking carefully about whether they could protect lives if this coalition of murderers persists and continues spreading their terror,” he added.

He also announced a visit on Monday to the United Kingdom – one of Kyiv’s staunchest allies – where he said he would be discussing defence issues and sanctions on Russia with Ukraine’s partners.

The visit comes before a Nato summit later this week in The Hague.

Zelenskyy is set to attend on the sidelines but his involvement is being kept to a minimum to avoid a confrontation with US President Donald Trump.

Sheltering in basements

Since coming back to office, Trump has upended the West’s approach towards Russia’s war on Ukraine by undercutting Kyiv and opening the door to closer ties with Moscow.

AFP journalists saw people sheltering in the basement of a residential building in the centre of Kyiv, waiting for the attack to end and scrolling their phones for news.

The attack gutted a multi-storey residential building, where rescue workers were clearing debris, AFP reporters at the scene said.

“Rescuers are currently clearing the rubble and providing assistance wherever it is needed,” Zelenskyy said.

He added that five “ordinary homes” had been damaged in the attack.

The latest strikes – less than a week after another attack on Kyiv killed at least 28 people – came after Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky vowed to intensify strikes on Russia.

“We will not just sit in defence because this brings nothing and eventually leads to the fact that we still retreat, lose people and territories,” he told reporters, including AFP.

Syrsky said Ukraine would continue its strikes on Russian military targets, which he said had proved “effective”.

In Moscow, the defence ministry said its air defence systems had downed 23 Ukrainian drones over eastern regions of Russia.

Ukraine has launched retaliatory strikes on Russia throughout the war, targeting energy and military infrastructure sometimes hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the front line.

Kyiv says the strikes are a fair response to Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians.

Syrsky conceded that Russia had some advantages in drone warfare, particularly in making fibre-optic drones that are tethered and difficult to jam.

Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions as its own since launching its invasion in 2022 – in addition to Crimea, which it captured in 2014.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging a peace deal in order to prolong its full-scale offensive on the country and to seize more territory.

- Agence France-Presse