Russia yesterday attacked Kyiv with an hours-long barrage of missiles and drones, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 70 in its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since July last year and just as peace efforts are coming to a head.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after the attack he was cutting short his official trip to South Africa and returning home as the city reeled from the bombardment that kept residents on edge for about 11 hours.
It appeared to be Russia’s biggest attack on Kyiv in nine months, and Zelenskiy branded it as one of Russia’s “most outrageous.”
Photo: AFP
In a rare criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump urged him to stop after the Kyiv attacks.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko announced that today would be an official day of mourning in the capital.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, four plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine.
Rescue workers with flashlights scoured the charred rubble of partly collapsed homes as the blue lights of emergency vehicles lit up the dark city streets.
The attack came as weeks of peace negotiations appeared to be culminating without an agreement in sight and hours after Trump lashed out at Zelenskiy, accusing him of prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal.
Zelenskiy said that the future of negotiations depends on Moscow.
He has repeated many times during the more than three-year war that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country.
Yesterday, he said that Ukraine had agreed to a US ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russia’s attacks had continued.
He said in South Africa that the latest attack meant the future of negotiations “depends on Russia’s intention, because it is in Moscow where they have to make a decision.”
While talks have been going on in the past few weeks, Russia has hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said the attack underscored that the main obstacle to ending the war is Russia.
“While claiming to seek peace, Russia launched a deadly airstrike on Kyiv,” she wrote on social media. “This isn’t a pursuit of peace, it’s a mockery of it.”
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said the attack showed that Putin is determined to press his bigger army’s advantage on the about 1,000km front line, where it currently holds the momentum.
“Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war,” Sybiha wrote on social media. “Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression. Only strength and pressure will.”