Powerful explosions boomed in the skies over the Ukrainian capital on Saturday as Russia launched waves of missiles and attack drones. The hours-long assault came as President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine prepared to meet with US President Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss a plan to end the war.
Zelensky said the attack made clear that Russia was not serious about peace talks.
“Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals and ‘shaheds’ speak for them,” he wrote on social media, using the names of ballistic missiles and attack drones. “This is the true attitude of Putin and his inner circle. They do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering.”
The attack began around 1:30am local time, heralded by the blare of air-raid sirens as the local authorities warned residents of Kyiv to take cover.
“Explosions in the capital,” the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, wrote on Telegram. “Air defence forces are operating. Stay in shelters!”
Soon after, an eerie blue-and-white light flickered in the sky over part of the city, suggesting that an energy facility may have been hit. Blasts and the thunder of air defences firing sounded through the night and into the late morning.
Zelensky said just before 11am that even as the attack was ongoing, Russia had already launched about 40 missiles and nearly 500 drones. Moments later, more explosions were heard in Kyiv. By the time the all-clear was given, the capital had been under bombardment for nearly 10 hours.
One person was killed in the suburbs of Kyiv and at least 28 people were wounded in the city, according to the local authorities. Thick plumes of grey smoke rose above the skyline, and officials said several fires were burning in the city after the strikes hit multiple locations, including a university dormitory and residential high-rises.
Nearly a third of the capital was without heat as a result of the strikes, Klitschko said, as temperatures hovered below freezing.
On Sunday, Trump is expected to meet with Zelensky in Florida to discuss the latest version of a 20-point draft peace plan that was developed with the US. The proposal covers a wide range of issues, including security guarantees that Ukraine wants to prevent future Russian aggression.
Zelensky said on Friday that the plan was “90 per cent ready”, but Trump later told Politico that the Ukrainian leader “doesn’t have anything until I approve it”.
“So we’ll see what he’s got,” Trump said.
Analysts say Russia is unlikely to accept the proposal.
Still, Trump told The New York Post on Friday that he believed there was a “good shot” that Ukraine and Russia were ready to broker a peace deal.
“I think they want to do it now, and I think that Russia wants to do it,” he said. “But every time one wants to do it, the other doesn’t.”
New York Times News Service