At least three people were killed, including a five-year-old child, after Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
Russian forces launched 147 drones overnight across Ukraine and the country’s air defence shot down 97 drones, Ukraine’s air force has reported. The previous day, the air defence shot down 100 drones launched by Moscow, and 114 drones the day before that.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian attacks across his country continue to be a “daily reality” despite the partial ceasefire agreed to last week.
Referencing the overnight drone attack on Kyiv, he wrote in a post on X: “These attacks are a daily reality. This week alone, over 1,580 guided aerial bombs, nearly 1,100 strike drones, and 15 missiles of various types were used against our people.
“All of this weaponry contains at least 102,000 foreign components. That’s why sanctions against Russian terrorists must be more effective. Every loophole that allows them to bypass the sanctions regime must be eliminated.”
Ukraine’s Kyiv city military administration said at least 10 other people were injured in the latest attacks, with the drones causing several fires throughout the city.
Two residential buildings in the district of Dnipro caught fire due to falling drone debris, while a fire broke out on the top floors of a nine-storey building in the capital, killing one woman, officials said.
“Today, the Russians are once again demonstrating their ‘desire for peace,’” Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said.
“In reality, terrorists are simply launching deadly weapons at residential buildings.”
The attack came ahead of scheduled ceasefire talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia later today.
After US officials meet the Ukrainians this evening, they will meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian officials are expected to be at the talks involving US and Russian officials but would not be in the same room as the Russians.
At the talks, the Ukrainian delegation is expected to supply a list of energy infrastructure that would be off-limits for strikes by the Russian military.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying “we are only at the beginning of this path”, adding that negotiations with Washington tomorrow would be “difficult” and that Moscow’s “main” focus would be on a possible resumption of a deal to ensure safe navigation for commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Mr Zelenskiy have already agreed to a partial ceasefire covering energy and civilian infrastructure – but both Moscow and Kyiv have accused the other of violating the agreement.
The Kremlin said last week it had agreed to a US-proposed partial ceasefire, with Mr Putin agreeing to halt strikes on Ukrainian energy targets for 30 days, after a lengthy phone call with US president Donald Trump. – Guardian
