A devastating Russian assault on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, has left at least six people dead and fourteen injured, marking a severe escalation as new US-mediated peace negotiations opened in Abu Dhabi.
Wave of Destruction Overnight
In the early hours of Tuesday, Russia launched a massive barrage against Ukraine, firing a total of 22 missiles and 464 drones. The attack principally targeted Kyiv and its surrounding regions. Among the missiles were four advanced Kinzhal hypersonic weapons.
The assault occurred in two distinct waves, with explosions first heard shortly after 1am and again around 7am. The strikes were not confined to the capital, with reports of explosions in the Dnipro, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Cherkasy regions.
Civilian Areas and Infrastructure Hit
The attack caused significant damage to residential areas. In Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district, four people were killed and three injured. In the Dniprovskyi district, a separate strike killed two and injured five. Across the city, there were 13 separate reports of attack damage or falling debris, including at a 22-storey residential apartment block.
Liubov Petrivna, a 90-year-old resident of a damaged building in the Dniprovskyi district, described the terror of the strike. "Absolutely everything in my apartment was shattered," she told Associated Press, adding that "glass rained down" on her. She expressed deep scepticism about ongoing peace efforts, stating, "No one will ever do anything about it. Putin won't stop until he finishes us off."
Diplomacy and Dire Warnings
The large-scale offensive coincided with the start of a fresh round of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi. The negotiations involved Dan Driscoll, the US army secretary, meeting with a Russian delegation and a Ukrainian team led by Kyrylo Budanov.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a stark warning to international partners amidst the violence. "All partners must remember that lives need to be saved every single day," he stated. He emphasised the critical need for continuous support, saying, "Weapons and air defence systems are important, as is the sanctions pressure on the aggressor. There can be no pauses in assistance."
President Zelenskyy also revealed that four drones had crossed into the airspace of Moldova and Romania. Romania's defence ministry confirmed it had deployed four fighter jets to track two of the drones early in the morning.
The attack crippled key services in the capital. The Ukrenergo electricity generator announced emergency power outages to Kyiv's already disrupted supply, and heat was affected in large parts of the city on Tuesday morning.
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the military administration for the capital, condemned the strikes on Telegram, labelling them "cynical terror" and accusing Russian forces of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and housing.
