Russia rained missiles and drones on Kyiv yesterday, killing seven people, as frantic diplomatic efforts over a draft US plan to end the war intensified.
Negotiators from the US, Ukraine and Russia were all due in Abu Dhabi, US and British media reported, days after US President Donald Trump tabled a 28-point plan that would enshrine most of Russia’s hardline demands.
People crowded into Kyiv’s deep metro stations overnight amid the attack, setting up sleeping bags, tents and camping chairs.
Photo: AFP
Powerful explosions rocked the city beginning at about 1am yesterday, while thick smoke, illuminated red and orange by the fire from Ukrainian air defense, covered parts of Kyiv, as Russian missiles and drones flew toward the capital.
Fires raged in multistory apartment blocks hit in the strikes. Elderly locals scooped up their belongings, and draped themselves in blankets and coats after being evacuated in the middle of the night.
Ukrainian officials slammed the Russian attack as a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to end the war, launched by his February 2022 invasion.
“Putin gave his terrorist response to the United States’ and President Trump’s peace proposals. With a barrage of missiles and drones against Ukraine,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiga said on social media.
Russia fired 464 drones and 22 missiles at Ukraine in the overnight barrage, Kyiv’s air force said.
Ukraine also fired almost 250 drones at Russia overnight, Moscow said, killing three people in the southern border region of Rostov in what the governor of nearby Krasnodar called one of the “most sustained and massive attacks” of the war.
Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov yesterday said that Kyiv was pushing for a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Trump “at the earliest possible date in November to finalize the remaining stages and reach an agreement.”
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