Hundreds of Russian drones and more than a dozen missiles targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions in a second massive air attack in two days early yesterday ahead of what the US and Russia said were ‘frank’ talks between them on ending the war.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during an Asean meeting in Kuala Lumpur, said he had reinforced President Donald Trump’s message that Moscow should have shown more flexibility.
“We need to see a roadmap moving forward about how this conflict can conclude,” Rubio said, adding that the Trump administration had been engaging with the US Senate on what new sanctions on Russia might look like.
“It was a frank conversation. It was an important one,” Rubio said after the 50-minute talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who met allies in Rome to lobby for critical weapons and investment, said yesterday’s assault had involved around 400 drones and 18 missiles, primarily targeting the capital.
Two people were killed, 23 were wounded and damage reported in nearly every district of Kyiv.
Explosions and anti-aircraft machine gun fire rattled the city. Windows were blown out, facades ravaged and cars burned to shells, including in the city centre where an apartment in an eight-storey building was engulfed in flames.
The Vatican’s embassy in Kyiv was slightly damaged during the attacks early morning yesterday, the embassy said in a statement. Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, the Vatican’s ambassador to Ukraine said the attack damaged the embassy’s roof and its parking garage.
Ukrainian air defences stopped all but a few dozen of the drones, authorities said, a day after Russia launched a record 728 drones at Ukraine.
Escalating Russian strikes in recent weeks have strained Ukraine’s air defences at a time when its troops are facing renewed pressure on the front line, and forced residents in Kyiv and across the country to seek cover in bomb shelters.
“Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouse facilities, offices and non-residential buildings are on fire,” said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, on the Telegram messaging app.
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