Russia launched a huge missile and drone attack on Kyiv sparking claims that Vladimir Putin is “not preparing for peace”. Ukraine’s air force said it shot down six out of seven ballistic missiles launched in the latest attack on the country which Putin sought to invade almost three years ago. Out of 123 drones, the military shot down 71, it added, and likely used electronic countermeasures against 40 more.
Local officials said that at least one person was killed and four injured, including a 9-year-old child, in the attack. A series of powerful explosions shook the capital around 0230 GMT as local officials said air defences were working to thwart the attacks. They sparked several fires in the city of three million, Ukrainian officials said. “This Russian terror against Ukraine will not stop on its own,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the attack, urging unity among partners for a just end to the war.
“Putin is not preparing for peace - he continues to kill Ukrainians and destroy cities.”. Photos shared by the state emergency services showed rescuers putting out flames engulfing a non-residential building in the region surrounding Kyiv where no casualties were reported. The overnight attack also damaged critical infrastructure and injured two people in the northern region of Chernihiv, local officials said.
Prospects for renewed peace negotiations to end the war that Russia launched on Ukraine nearly three years ago have increased after US President Donald Trump said that he had been in contact with Kyiv and Putin. Mr Zelensky also said on Tuesday that Kyiv would soon hold talks with US officials. Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, reportedly told allies in recent meetings that he was preparing options to end the war in Ukraine,.
But Putin appeared to be digging in over his demands to stop the war. He set out last summer his terms for an immediate end to the war which included that Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four eastern Ukrainian provinces claimed and mostly controlled by Russia. Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s powerful Security Council, on Wednesday dismissed as “nonsense” Kyiv’s proposal to trade pockets of Russian territory it holds in exchange for Moscow-controlled parts of Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky told the Guardian newspaper that he planned to offer Russia a straight territory exchange to help bring an end to the war. Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president from 2008-2012, claimed Russia had shown that it can achieve peace through strength. Russia has gradually been seizing more territory in eastern Ukraine, but suffering heavy losses as its soldiers advance slowly. The conflict has seen an unprecedented use of drones, including some which can strike targets more than 900 miles away.
