Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile strike on Kyiv killed one man and wounded three other people overnight. It caused damage and ignited fire in several districts in the biggest such attack on Ukraine for weeks.
As reported by Reuters, the attack was the first large-scale attack employing missiles and drones since the U.S. stated late last month it had negotiated two ceasefire agreements with Moscow and Kyiv, including one that would on each other’s energy infrastructure.
Can peace talks survive continued Russian missile assaults?
Chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Andriy Yermak, said ongoing strikes on Ukraine indicated the Kremlin did not want to conclude the three-year-old war.
“Drones and missiles, constant attacks on Ukraine. Russia is increasing the intensity of its attacks and demonstrably does not want to cease fire, does not want peace,” Yermak said. “The language of force is the only one that Putin understands. All our partners need to switch to this language,”
he also said.
Moscow forces employed ballistic and cruise missiles launched from both strategic bombers and naval fleets, as well as drones, during the overnight strike, Ukraine’s air force stated.
Why is Poland on high alert after recent missile strikes?
Air force warnings of an impending attack, including regions near Poland, prompted the neighboring NATO member to scramble aircraft for air safety.
Poland has been on high alert for objects penetrating its airspace since a lost Ukrainian missile hit the southern Polish village of Przewodow in 2022, killing two people. The city of Kyiv was rocked by several loud explosions overnight.
What are the consequences of Russia’s missile attacks?
There have been fires in at least three districts of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. “The body of a man killed in an enemy attack was found in Darnytskiy district (of Kyiv). He was on the street, near the epicentre of the explosion,” Klitschko added. He also said that two civilians had been taken to the hospital after they were wounded in Darnytskiy, on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River that splits the city.
What’s the significance of the strike in Kryvyi Rih?
Moreover, a day earlier, a Russian strike killed at least 19 people, including 9 children, in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.
A Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian president’s home city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday was one of the most lethal strikes this year in a conflict that indicates no sign of a swift end despite a push for consensus by the Trump administration, experts say.
Among the 72 injured were a three-month-old baby, and damage was inflicted on numerous apartment buildings, six educational institutions, as well as various shops and businesses, stated Oleksandr Vilkul, Kryvyi Rih mayor, describing the incident as a “tragic evening and night.”
“Another bloody crime was committed by the terrorist country. Rocket and massive Shahed attacks on residential areas and playgrounds,”
the mayor stated.
Thousands of civilians have perished in the confrontation, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. U.S. President Donald Trump, who assumed office in January promising to conclude the war within 24 hours, has attempted to negotiate a resolution to the conflict.
