KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) \u2014 Russia pummelled Kyiv for hours early on Thursday, firing hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in an attack that killed at least seven people and further shredded hopes of a halt to Moscow\u2019s grinding invasion.<\/p>\n
AFP journalists in the capital heard air raid sirens wailing out over the city before several hours of thunderous explosions and flashes in the sky sent Kyiv\u00a0residents running to shelter in metro stations.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 675 attack drones and 56 missiles, mainly at Kyiv, adding its air defense units had downed 652 of the drones and 41 missiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything was burning. People were screaming … people were shouting,\u201d Andriy, a Kyiv resident still wearing a nightgown and with blood stains on his shirt, told AFP near a collapsed Soviet-era residential building.<\/p>\n
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 20 sites in the capital were damaged including homes, a school, a vet clinic and other civilian infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Seven bodies were pulled from the rubble of a single destroyed\u00a0residential building \u2014 three men, three women, and a young girl, police said.<\/p>\n
Another 45 were wounded.<\/p>\n
Ballistic challenge<\/p>\n
Russian attacks also wounded people in the southern regions of Odesa and Kherson, and in the eastern region of Kharkiv.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end. It is important that partners do not remain silent about this strike,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n
Ukraine said it shot down 94% of all drones and 73% of the missiles fired by Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most difficult challenge is defending against ballistic missiles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A slew of Ukraine\u2019s allies, including the United Kingdom, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, the Netherlands, Moldova, and Slovakia condemned the fatal attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy bombing civilians, Russia demonstrates less its strength than its weakness: It is running out of solutions on the military front and does not know how to end its war of aggression,\u201d French President Emmanuel Macron said.<\/p>\n
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says Kyiv attacks show that Russia \u201copenly mocks\u201d efforts to end the war.<\/p>\n
Russia, which invaded Ukraine more than four years ago, said the wave of missiles and drones had targeted military-linked sites and energy facilities that support the Ukrainian army.<\/p>\n
Chaotic rescue scenes<\/p>\n
At daybreak, AFP journalists witnessed chaotic scenes as rescue workers dug through mounds of debris from a collapsed residential building gutted in the attack.<\/p>\n
Emergency service workers were seen hauling from the site those wounded and killed in the strikes, and residents cried as they waited for news of loved ones and neighbours.<\/p>\n
The barrage is the latest setback for efforts to end the conflict after U.S. President Donald Trump raised faint hopes for peace by brokering a three-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow last week, and Russia\u2019s leader Vladimir Putin suggested the war could be winding down.<\/p>\n
But the brief truce was marred by allegations of violations and both sides resumed attacks straight after.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s army fired more than 1,500 drones at Ukraine over Wednesday and Thursday, Kyiv\u2019s air force said.<\/p>\n
The Kremlin has poured cold water on the idea that vague comments from Putin on Saturday that the war was \u201cheading to an end\u201d meant Moscow would soften its position.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday it repeated its demand that Ukraine fully withdraw from the eastern Donbas region before a ceasefire and full-scale peace talks can take place.<\/p>\n
Kyiv has rejected such a move as tantamount to capitulation.<\/p>\n
Kyiv has urged Trump to discuss ending the conflict during his meetings in Beijing this week with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis barbaric attack during such an important summit shows that the Russian regime poses a global threat to international security. Instead of peace and development, Moscow pursues aggression and terror,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.<\/p>\n
Russia drones on Thursday also struck a U.N. vehicle in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Zelenskyy said, accusing Moscow of having deliberately targeted it, but adding there were no casualties.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has spurred the worst conflict in Europe since World War II, killing hundreds of thousands of people and displacing millions more.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
By STANISLAV DOSHCHITSYN and SERHII OKUNEV, Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n
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