Russian missiles and drones early yesterday ripped through apartment blocks in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, killing at least 15 people, including four children, an attack that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said showed Moscow’s rejection of peace negotiations.
Russia has rained down aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities despite US President Donald Trump’s push for a ceasefire and even as it talks up the importance of ending the war, started by its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The attack — one of the deadliest on Kyiv — blasted a five-story crater in one apartment block, ripping the building in two.
Photo: Reuters
Rescuers carried victims away in body bags as they sifted through the smoldering rubble, and heavy construction machinery was deployed to scoop up mounds of debris.
Officials said that several people were believed to be still trapped under the collapsed building.
“Glass was flying ... we were screaming when the bombs went off,” said Galina Shcherbak, who was at a parking lot close to one of the strikes.
Photo: Reuters
The Ukrainian Air Force said Moscow fired 629 drones and missiles, which would make it the second-largest overnight barrage of the war, according to Agence France-Presse’s analysis of Kyiv’s data.
Andriy, whose apartment was destroyed in the strike, said that he had only just made it out alive.
“If I had gone to the shelter a minute later, I would not be here now, I would have been buried,” he said. “I came out, could not hear anything, there was fog everywhere, and my left eye was completely covered in blood.”
Zelenskiy called the attack “a horrific and deliberate killing of civilians.”
“The Russians are not choosing to end the war, only new strikes,” he said on social media, calling for Moscow to face fresh sanctions.
“For the spurning of ceasefire and for the constant Russian attempts to weasel out of negotiations, new strong sanctions are needed,” he added.
The Kremlin said it was still interested in diplomacy, but that its strikes on Ukraine would “continue.”
“The Russian armed forces are fulfilling their tasks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “They continue to strike military and military-adjacent infrastructure facilities.”
“At the same time, Russia remains interested in continuing the negotiation process. The aim is to achieve our goals through political and diplomatic means,” he added.
The EU summoned Russia’s ambassador after the overnight barrage damaged its delegation offices in Kyiv, while the British Council said its premises had been “severely damaged” and would be closed until further notice.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS