Russia pounded Kyiv with drone strikes on Wednesday, hitting railway infrastructure, warehouses and fuel stations, just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met US President Donald Trump to discuss peace efforts.
At least two people were killed and more than 30 were injured in the attack, which lasted for hours from the morning into early afternoon, officials said, in one of the heaviest strikes since Russia began hitting Kyiv and nearby areas with faster and high-flying jet drones that are harder to intercept.
Several explosions were heard and smoke billowed above the centre of the Ukrainian capital and other areas.
Zelenskiy said Russia had deployed many drones against the city, with a large number of them jet-powered.
“Russia continues to turn civilian and critical infrastructure into targets: pharmaceutical facilities, gas stations, railways, communications infrastructure, and shopping malls,” he said on X.
A separate Russian aerial bomb attack killed at least four people and injured four others in a village in the frontline Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said on the Telegram messaging app.
Zelenskiy, who was due to address the UN General Assembly later on Wednesday, said it was important to keep up sanctions pressure on Moscow, including on Russian oligarchs.
In his meeting with Trump on Tuesday, Zelenskiy discussed a potential bilateral ceasefire on energy-related targets and asked for increased supplies of US Patriot air defence missiles to defend against an expected Russian winter campaign against Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure. No agreements were reached, he said.
Zelenskiy said he was ready for “any format” of an energy ceasefire with Moscow, as long as Russia halted its own attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin said the grounds for future peace talks with Ukraine were still not in place and there were no plans for any high-level meetings.
