Zelenskiy demands sanctions after Russia pummels Kyiv

Yurii Kovalenko |

Almost 400 Ukrainian troops have been freed by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says.
Almost 400 Ukrainian troops have been freed by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says.

Russia has launched dozens of attack drones and ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight in one of the biggest combined aerial attacks on the Ukrainian capital of the three-year war, damaging several apartment buildings and injuring 15 people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a social media post it had been a “tough night” for Ukraine, and called for new international sanctions to pressure Moscow into agreeing to a ceasefire.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, Reuters witnesses saw and heard successive waves of drones flying over Kyiv, and a series of explosions jolted the city.

The capital also reverberated with the sound of anti-aircraft batteries trying to bring down the drones.

Pictures from Reuters photographers showed an orange-red glow lighting up the city as plumes of smoke wafted across the horizon. On the top floor of one apartment building, smoke and flames billowed out of a balcony window as firefighters tried to approach.

The Kyiv city military administration and the police reported damage in six districts of the Ukrainian capital, and a total so far of 15 people wounded.

As dawn broke on Saturday, residents at an apartment building just outside the centre of Kyiv were surveying the damage caused by drones.

Dozens of windows had been shattered, and balconies on one side of the building were smashed.

“I wish they’d agree to a ceasefire. To bomb people like this,” said Olha Chyrukha, a 64-year-old resident.

“The poor children! My three-year-old granddaughter was screaming scared.”

Woman and dog outside a building damaged by a Russian attack in Kyiv
A woman carries her dog on a street strewn with broken glass after a Russian attack in Kyiv. (AP PHOTO)

The Obolon district on the north-western edge of Kyiv was the worst hit, officials said.

A resident there, 42-year-old Olha Kalina, said her apartment was struck.

She was spending the night with her own parents elsewhere, but two of her children, aged 20 and 13, were in the apartment.

“The kids rang me at three in the morning and said: ‘Mum, we’ve been hit. The balcony’s on fire’.”

Kalina rushed to the scene, and found her children sheltering in a nearby underground car park, their faces blackened from smoke.

Both Ukraine and Russia said they will comply with a request from US President Donald Trump to hold fresh talks about a peace deal.

The two sides carried out a major prisoner exchange on Friday, which Trump suggested could be the first step towards more positive developments.

People shelter in a subway station during a Russian attack on Kyiv
People take shelter at a subway station during a Russian drone and missile attack in Kyiv. (AP PHOTO)

However, Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of not being serious about seeking an end to the fighting.

In a post on the Telegram social media platform, Zelenskiy said: “With each such attack, the world becomes convinced that the reason for the war being dragged out is Moscow.”

“Only additional sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.”

Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had fired 14 ballistic missiles at targets across Ukraine overnight and launched 250 long-range drones, with Kyiv the main target.

There was no immediate comment from Russia on the overnight attacks.

The strikes followed several days of Ukrainian drone attacks – some 800 attacks – on targets inside Russia, including the capital Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had vowed on Friday to respond to those attacks.

with PA

Reuters