Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early yesterday, killing two people and setting the seat of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv ablaze in an attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned would prolong the war.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter saw the roof of Ukraine’s Cabinet of ministers in flames and smoke billowing over the capital.
Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in Kyiv, emergency services said.
Photo: Reuters
Russia has shown no sign of halting its three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine, pushing hardline demands for ending the war despite efforts by the US to broker a peace deal.
The barrage came after several European countries, led by France and the UK, pledged on Thursday to deploy “reassurance” forces to Ukraine to patrol a peace deal between the warring sides — a demand Moscow has deemed unacceptable.
The strike on Ukraine’s Cabinet of ministers building, a sprawling government complex at the heart of Kyiv, was the first such strike of the war.
An AFP reporter saw helicopters dropping what appeared to be buckets of water over the roof.
Police cordoned off the area surrounding the building.
“The roof and upper floors were damaged due to an enemy attack. Rescuers are extinguishing the fire,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Telegram.
“We will restore the buildings, but we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorizes and kills our people every day throughout the country,” she said.
Russia fired at least 805 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early yesterday, the largest of the war, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
Emergency services were working across the country, Zelenskiy said.
“Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” he said on Facebook.
The attack drew condemnation from European leaders including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“Once again, the Kremlin is mocking diplomacy,” Von der Leyen wrote on X.
AFP reporters heard explosions over the capital early yesterday.
A 24-year-old pregnant woman, who delivered a premature baby shortly after the attack, and doctors were fighting for her life and that of her baby, state TV Suspilne reported.
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