KYIV: Russian missiles and drones struck apartment blocks in the Ukrainian capital early Thursday, killing at least 15 people including four children.
President Volodymyr Zelensky declared the attack demonstrated Moscow’s rejection of peace negotiations despite international ceasefire efforts.
Russia continued aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities despite US President Donald Trump’s push for a ceasefire and its own public statements about ending the war.
The attack created a five-storey crater in one apartment building, splitting the structure in two while rescue teams carried victims away in body bags.
Heavy construction machinery cleared mounds of debris as officials warned several people remained trapped beneath the collapsed building.
“Glass was flying … we were screaming when the bombs went off,” witness Galina Shcherbak told AFP from a nearby parking lot.
Ukraine’s air force reported Moscow fired 629 drones and missiles, marking the second-largest overnight barrage of the war according to AFP analysis.
“If I had gone to the shelter a minute later, I would not be here now, I would have been buried,” said survivor Andriy, whose flat was destroyed in the strike.
Zelensky called the assault “a horrific and deliberate killing of civilians” and demanded new sanctions against Russia for spurning ceasefire opportunities.
“All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined,” he stated on social media platforms.
The Kremlin claimed it targeted military sites and insisted it remained interested in diplomacy while continuing strikes on Ukraine.
“The Russian armed forces are fulfilling their tasks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when questioned by AFP.
The European Union summoned Russia’s ambassador after the barrage damaged its delegation offices in Kyiv, with officials posting photos of blown-out windows and collapsed ceilings.
The British Council announced its premises were “severely damaged” and would remain closed indefinitely following the attacks.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “sabotaging hopes of peace” with the strikes.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Russian “terror and barbarism” by stating “This is Russia’s idea of peace” in a social media post.
Following the Alaska summit between Putin and Trump, the Kremlin has rejected initiatives for a swift war conclusion including a potential Zelensky-Putin meeting.
Moscow demands Kyiv cede more territory and renounce Western military support as peace conditions, which Ukraine has ruled unacceptable.
Putin has rejected ceasefire calls from Zelensky, Trump and European leaders while Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of paying lip service to peace.
Russian forces captured another small settlement in the eastern Donetsk region Thursday, continuing their grinding and costly advance.
Ukraine seeks security guarantees including Western troop deployments before any peace agreement to deter future Russian attacks.
Moscow opposes Western military presence in Ukraine while Kyiv struck two large Russian refineries overnight in what it calls fair retaliation. – AFP