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Overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv kills six people, including children
Russian drones and missiles have pounded the Ukrainian capital and other cities, killing six people in the Kyiv region, including a six-month-old baby, a 12 -year-old girl and a woman, and damaging key energy facilities and several high-rise residential buildings.
The attacks lasted most of Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as Kyiv was hit by at least four ballistic missiles. A series of loud explosions could be heard across the city.
Towards dawn and the beginning of the morning rush hour, air defences targeting Russian drones was audible above the sound of traffic.
A Ukrainian rescuer extinguishing a fire in a residential building after an airstrike in Kyiv on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. Photograph: UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP/Getty Images
The latest attack came as it was reported that Ukraine had launched a substantial attack on a major chemical plant in Bryansk, in south-western Russia, with Storm Shadow missiles, which are supplied by Britain and France. Ukrainian drones also hit Russia’s Mordovia region.
Meanwhile, plans to hold a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as Ukraine and its European allies rallied in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv.
The White House said there were now “no plans” for the US president to meet his Russian counterpart “in the immediate future” as a round of diplomacy at the end of last week failed to yield any significant progress towards ending the war.
More on these stories in a moment, but first here are some other key developments:
Preparations for a meeting in Budapest between Trump and Putin are still ongoing, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán said on Wednesday, a day after the summit was put on hold. The planned meeting was paused as Moscow’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations.
On Wednesday, Trump is expected to hold talks at the White House with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them bought from the United States by Canada and European countries.
European diplomats have said countries were working with Ukraine on a new proposal for a ceasefire along current battle lines. One told Reuters the proposal included a reference to a peace board that would be chaired by Trump, while another said it would be modelled on the US 20-point plan on Gaza. Thirty five allies of Ukraine will meet on Friday in London for a summit among countries willing to provide long-term support to Kyiv.
Updated at 03.31 EDT