Russian forces hit Ukraine’s capital and key energy facilities with a massive airstrike on the eve of talks between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump aimed at nailing down a plan to end Moscow’s war.
Zelenskiy stopped in Canada en route to the US, where he met the country’s prime minister, Mark Carney, who announced an additional $2.5bn of economic aid for Ukraine.
Carney condemned the “barbaric” overnight attack on Kyiv. He said: “We have the conditions, the possibility, for the just and lasting peace,” adding this requires a “willing Russia”.
Zelenskiy and Carney were due to speak by video call with European allies. European and Canadian politicians and diplomats have sought to help Zelenskiy deal with Trump during negotiations.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will take part in the call, a commission spokesperson said. Key sticking points include Ukrainian security guarantees and reconstruction, plus territorial discussions regarding the Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Ukraine’s president reiterated to reporters from his plane on Saturday Ukraine’s need for legally binding security guarantees from allies if hostilities are brought to an end.
More than 500 drones and 40 missiles — including Kinzhal hypersonic weapons — were launched in a barrage that started overnight and continued throughout the day on Saturday, hitting civilian targets and energy facilities. Air raid sirens have sounded in the capital for about 16 hours.
“Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals and ‘Shaheds’ speak for them,” Zelenskiy said.
The barrage killed one person in Kyiv and injured at least 30, disrupted power and water supplies, and sparked fires across several districts. About one-third of the city of over 3 million residents was left without heating with temperatures hovering around freezing.
Smoke rising above residential buildings on December 27th following the Russian attack on Kyiv. Photograph: AFP
More than 600,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region were without electricity around midday Saturday, Prime minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on Telegram. “Russians are pursuing a campaign built on instilling exhaustion, cold, and fear,” she added.
Several high-rise residential buildings, as well as cars and other property, were set ablaze, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. Authorities imposed emergency power cuts in the capital, overriding rolling blackouts that had already been scheduled, while water supplies were also disrupted.
The Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine also saw power cuts, Ukraine’s energy ministry said. In late afternoon, Ukraine’s air force command said it had identified a missile headed toward Myrhorod in central Ukraine.
Russia attacked gas extraction and heating producing facilities operated by Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-run energy company, CEO Sergii Koretskyi said on Facebook. “Obviously, these attacks are synchronized with cold,” he said.
Russia’s defense ministry said in a post on Telegram that its strikes “targeted energy infrastructure used by Ukraine’s armed forces as well as defense industry facilities,” and that “all targets were hit.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Russia could see Kyiv was in no hurry to end the Ukraine conflict by peaceful means, Interfax news agency reported on Saturday.
Putin said that if Ukraine didn’t want to resolve the conflict peacefully then Russia would resolve all goals of its “special military operation” by force, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Separately, Moscow’s mayor reported 12 drones in the vicinity of the capital, with Vnukovo airport temporarily suspending flights and Sheremetyevo airport operating with restrictions. In all, Russia’s defense ministry said it shot down 111 drones on Saturday afternoon. One person was reported to have been killed in the Belgorod region.
Events are unfolding a day before Zelenskiy is set to meet with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, in pursuit of a deal to end Russia’s nearly four-year invasion.
Zelenskiy said Friday that he plans to refine Kyiv’s agreements with the US as much as possible, with a comprehensive 20-point peace plan then requiring input from Russia and Europe. He plans to discuss sensitive issues with Trump, including the future of the Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as well as a long-term roadmap for Ukraine’s battered economy.
Sunday’s meeting is set for 3pm local time, according to Trump’s official schedule. The US leader is spending the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago club.
Besides Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian negotiating team will include top envoy Rustem Umerov, economy minister Oleksii Sobelev, chief of the General Staff Andriy Hnatov, presidential office adviser Oleksandr Bevz, and first deputy foreign minister Sergiy Kyslytsya.
Zelenskiy told Axios on Friday that he is ready to put an eventual framework agreement to a referendum if Russia agrees to a ceasefire of at least 60 days.
On Saturday Zelenskiy said he was “politically ready” for elections, but that Ukraine needs to prepare in terms of appropriate legislation, and that he expects Russia to attempt to undermine the legitimacy of any vote.
“If the American side raises the issue of a referendum or elections — they definitely can’t take place in such conditions in which we live today, namely the attacks,” he added.
Trump, meanwhile, spoke on Friday with Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki, the Polish leader’s office said in a statement. An aide told Poland’s state news agency PAP that Nawrocki stressed to Trump that Putin was the aggressor in the conflict with Ukraine.
While Zelenskiy heads to the US, comments from Moscow late Friday raise doubts about how close a final agreement might be.
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov, in an interview with state television, described Kyiv’s latest plans as “radically different” from the key points Moscow has discussed with the US in recent weeks.
Ukraine and its European allies have “redoubled their efforts to torpedo” any accord to end a conflict, Ryabkov said. – Bloomberg/Guardian/Reuters