Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Zelensky accuses Russian leaders of using “all opportunities” to inflict “greater suffering” on Ukraine.
Russia carried out drone and missile strikes on kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, on the eve of a key meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian leaders, killing at least one person and leaving a third of the city without heat, according to local authorities.
Russian ballistic missiles and drones have rocked Kyiv since early hours of Saturday morningwhere an air alert was in place for almost 10 hours.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 elementsend of list
The attacks killed a 47-year-old woman and injured at least 22 other people, according to the mayor and regional governor of kyiv. Among the injured were two children, said the head of the kyiv city military administration, Tymur Tkachenko.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack was “still ongoing” as of 10:45 a.m. (0845 GMT), with some 500 drones and 40 missiles launched targeting “energy facilities and civilian infrastructure.” The air alert over the capital ended at 11:20 a.m. local time (09:20 GMT).
Besides the victims, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said there was no heat in a third of the capital, where temperatures hovered around zero (0 degrees Celsius).
Some 320,000 homes also lost power in the Kyiv region, which surrounds but does not include the capital, Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.
Russian forces are “trying to cut off all Ukrainians from our essential resources just to freeze us,” kyiv-based journalist Kristina Zelenyuk told Al Jazeera.
Upcoming peace talks
The Russian attack took place while Zelensky prepare to meet with US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for further talks on how to end the nearly four-year-old war.
Zelensky said they planned to discuss security guarantees and issues relating to future territorial control – the main sticking points in the negotiations.
Moscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from parts of the eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have failed to occupy during nearly four years of war, as it seeks full control of Donbass, including the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Kyiv wants the fighting to stop on the current lines.
The United States, seeking a compromise, has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves parts of the Donetsk region. Zelensky told US news site Axios on Friday that he would seek a stronger position for Ukraine, but could put the US-backed plan to a referendum if necessary.
Both Zelensky and Trump expressed optimism about the meeting, with the Ukrainian leader saying most elements of the U.S.-Ukraine deal had been worked out and that he hoped to finalize a framework on Sunday.
“A lot of things can be decided before the New Year,” Zelenskyy said Friday on social media.
But Saturday’s attack appeared to change Zelensky’s tone. In a message posted after the air barrage, he said Russian leaders “did not want to end the war” and that their drones and missiles spoke louder than the “long talks” they engaged in.
Russian leaders intend to “take advantage of every opportunity to cause even more suffering to Ukraine and increase their pressure on other countries in the world,” Zelensky said.
Before the meeting with Trump, Zelensky is expected to speak by telephone on Saturday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other European leaders, a commission spokesperson said.
Zelenskyy, who left Ukraine on Saturday, told reporters he would also stop in Canada to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney before his trip to the United States.
