The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Reuters reports that Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine on Saturday, just ahead of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as a crucial meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at working out a plan to end nearly four years of war.
According to Zelenskiy, the overnight assault involved about
500 drones and 40 missiles, knocking out electricity and heating in parts of
the Ukrainian capital. He portrayed the attack as Moscow’s response to ongoing
peace efforts led by Washington.
Zelenskiy said talks scheduled for Sunday in Florida would
focus on security guarantees and territorial control once fighting ends in what
he described as Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, which began
with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Air raid alerts in Kyiv lasted nearly 10 hours, authorities
said. At least two people were killed in Kyiv and the surrounding region, while
46 others were wounded, including two children.
“Today, Russia demonstrated how it responds to peaceful
negotiations between Ukraine and the United States to end Russia’s war against
Ukraine,” Zelenskiy told reporters.
In Russia, air defense forces shot down eight drones headed
toward Moscow, according to the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin.
Explosions were heard across Kyiv from the early hours of
Saturday as Ukrainian air defense systems responded to incoming attacks.
Ukraine’s air force said Russian drones were targeting the capital as well as
regions in the northeast and south of the country.
Ukraine’s state grid operator, Ukrenergo, said energy
facilities nationwide were hit, prompting emergency power outages in Kyiv.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said more than one million
households in and around the capital lost electricity, with about 750,000 still
without power by the afternoon.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said more than 40% of
residential buildings in Kyiv were left without heat as temperatures hovered
around 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).
