Russia pounded Ukraine with deadly missiles and drone strikes early on Thursday in a sweeping attack that the U.S. special envoy on Ukraine said undermined President Donald Trump’s peace efforts.
At least 23 people were killed in the capital, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram. As of 11 p.m. (2000 GMT) rescue efforts were still underway.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “was not happy about this news, but he was also not surprised,” given that the two countries had been at war for a long time.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the strike, the second-largest attack since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, was Moscow’s answer to diplomatic efforts to end its war.
U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg commented on X: “The targets? Not soldiers and weapons but residential areas in Kyiv – blasting civilian trains, the EU & British mission council offices, and innocent civilians.”
The European Union and Britain summoned Russian envoys to protest. There were no reports of casualties at either site.
Zelenskiy said the strikes also damaged a Turkish enterprise and the Azerbaijan embassy.
Leavitt told a regular briefing that Trump would have more to say about the situation later.
Leavitt said the Russian attacks had been deadly and that Ukrainian attacks had done significant damage in August to Russian oil refineries.
“Perhaps both sides of this war are not ready to end it themselves,” she said. “The president wants it to end but the leaders of these two countries need it to end and want it to end.”
The strikes took place less than two weeks after Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska, a meeting the U.S. president hoped would advance his peace efforts.
“Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Zelenskiy said on X, calling for new sanctions on Russia. “It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war.”
Russia said its attack had hit military-industrial facilities and air bases, and that Ukraine had attacked Russian targets. The Kremlin said it was still interested in pursuing peace talks.
Moscow has regularly denied targeting civilians. Ukrainian officials say scores of civilians have died in Russian strikes on densely populated areas in recent months, and thousands since the start of the war.
During the attack on Kyiv, explosions rang out as clouds of smoke rose into the night sky. Drones whirred overhead.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko described it as one of the biggest attacks on the city in recent months. At least 63 people were wounded in the hours-long assault, which damaged buildings in all city districts, officials said.
Across the country, Ukraine’s military said Russian attacks struck 13 locations. National grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities were hit, causing power cuts.
A push by Ukraine and its allies to end the invasion has yielded little, despite Trump’s meetings this month with Putin, then Zelenskiy.
Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front lines and pushed a grinding offensive across much of the east in an effort to pressure Ukraine into giving up territory.
REUTERS
