One killed as Russia hammers Ukraine ahead of Trump-Zelenskyy meeting | Russia-Ukraine war News
Zelenskyy accuses the Russian leadership of using ‘every opportunity’ to inflict ‘greater suffering’ on Ukraine.
Russia has carried out drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on the eve of a key meeting between the United States and Ukrainian leaders, killing at least one person and leaving a third of the city without heat, according to local authorities.
Russian ballistic missiles and drones rocked Kyiv from the early hours of Saturday morning, where an air alert was in place for nearly 10 hours.
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The attacks killed a 47-year-old woman and wounded at least 22 others, according to Kyiv’s mayor and regional governor. Among those wounded were two children, said the head of Kyiv’s City military administration, Tymur Tkachenko.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that during the attack, some 500 drones and 40 missiles targeted “energy facilities and civilian infrastructure”.
Municipal employees and firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit during Russian missile and drone strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]
In addition to the casualties, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said there was no heat in one-third of the capital, where temperatures hovered around freezing (0 degrees Celsius).
The Russian strikes cut power to more than a million homes in and around Kyiv, energy company DTEK said in a post to social media late on Saturday.
Russian forces are “trying to cut off all Ukrainians from our critical resources just to freeze us”, Kyiv-based journalist Kristina Zelenyuk told Al Jazeera.
Upcoming peace talks
The Russian attack came as Zelenskyy prepares to meet with United States President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for further talks on how to end the nearly four-year war.
Zelenskyy said they plan to discuss security guarantees and questions over future territorial control – the main sticking points in the negotiations.
Ahead of the talks with Trump, Zelenskyy met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax on Saturday. The two held a bilateral meeting before attending a joint telephone conversation with European leaders.
Speaking beside the Ukrainian leader, Carney announced an additional 2.5 billion Canadian dollars ($1.82bn) of economic aid for Ukraine, and said peace depends on a “willing Russia”.
Later, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a statement saying that Zelenskyy had “the full support” of European leaders and of Canada, ahead of his talks with Trump. They and the leaders of NATO and the EU said they would work “in close coordination with the US for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”, Merz added.
Moscow demands that Ukraine withdraw from the parts of the eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have failed to occupy during almost four years of war, as it seeks full control of the Donbas, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Kyiv wants the fighting to be halted at the current lines.
The US, seeking a compromise, has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves parts of the Donetsk region. Zelenskyy told US news site Axios on Friday that he would seek a stronger position for Ukraine but could put the US-backed plan to a referendum if necessary.
Both Zelenskyy and Trump have expressed optimism about the meeting, with the Ukrainian leader saying most components of a US-Ukraine agreement had been ironed out and that he hopes to finalise a framework on Sunday.
“A lot can be decided before the New Year,” Zelenskyy posted on social media on Friday.
But Saturday’s attack appeared to alter Zelenskyy’s tone. In a post following the aerial barrage, he said Russia’s leadership “does not want to end the war”, and that their drones and missiles speak louder than any “lengthy talks” they engaged in.
Russia’s leadership aims “to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering and increase their pressure on others around the world”, said Zelenskyy.
Separately on Saturday, Russian forces reported that they had captured the town of Myrnohrad in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as well as Huliaipole in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, the Kremlin said on its Telegram channel.
