Russia bombards Kyiv before ‘frank’ talks with U.S. and aid pledges

KYIV/ROME –

Russia unleashed heavy airstrikes on Ukraine on Thursday before a conference in Rome at which Kyiv won billions of dollars in aid pledges, and U.S.-Russian talks at which Washington voiced frustration with Moscow over the war.

Two people were killed and 26 were wounded, according to figures from the national emergency services, and there was damage in nearly every part of Kyiv from missile and drone attacks on the capital and other parts of Ukraine.

Addressing the Rome conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction after more than three years of war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allies to “more actively” use Russian assets for rebuilding and called for weapons, joint defense production and investment.