At least 11 were injured and 46 wounded in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv after Russia launched a barrage of long-range, high-precision air-, land-, sea-launched weapons and drones on a residential area overnight. The attacks came at the NATO summit in Ankara where top leaders meet to discuss security. According to sources, Ukraine intelligence predicted the ‘massive strike hours before’.
At least 15 residential buildings had been damaged or destroyed in the attack, including a nine-storey block in the historic Podilskyi district, emergency services said. Ukraine’s military said Russia fired 68 missiles and 351 drones overnight.
Earlier on Sunday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in comments made public said US President Donald Trump, following a telephonic call with Zelensky on Saturday, spoke to Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the phone offering him help find a solution to the Ukraine war.
“The American president once again confirmed his readiness to work towards a rapid end to the fighting and find solutions to overcome the crisis,” Ushakov said of Trump’s call with the Russian president. He accused Kyiv and its European allies of “counting on extending and even escalating the conflict, and on terrorism against civilians”- referring to Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian targets, mainly linked to the oil industry, which have triggered fuel shortages in several Russian regions. However, Russia pressed that any solution must include Moscow assuming full control over Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Following a telephonic conversation with Trump, Zelensky hailed the ‘real prospect’ of ending the 4 yearlong conflict. “We agreed to continue the conversation in person during the Nato summit in Ankara,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media. Trump is set to meet president Volodymyr Zelensky at a Nato summit in Turkey next week, the White House confirmed on Sunday.
The strike was a second in less than a week as both the sides intensified their attacks deploying long range missiles taking the war to a full-scale invasion. The Russia’s defence ministry revealed that Ukraine refused to halt shelling of the town of Kostyantynivka in the east of the country to allow Russia to hand over the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. Russian army commanders told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that their troops had taken control of Kostiantynivka although Ukraine denied the claim, saying its forces remained in control of the town.