Russia bombarded Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones on Sunday that killed one person and wounded at least seven others, the latest in a series of deadly attacks that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has said makes clear Moscow has little real interest in cease-fire negotiations.
While Russian drone and missile attacks have been unrelenting throughout more than three years of war, they have intensified in recent weeks amid ongoing peace talks led by the Trump administration.
The Ukrainian authorities said the barrage on Sunday killed one man, damaged buildings and started fires in three neighborhoods of Kyiv, the capital. Damage and injuries were also reported elsewhere in Ukraine, as the country declared a day of mourning for a deadly strike on Friday in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.
A missile strike on a residential neighborhood there killed 19 people, including nine children, and wounded 74 others. It damaged the courtyard of an apartment block, and emergency medical workers found some of the wounded in a playground, videos released by Ukraine’s emergency services showed. Russia’s ministry of defense said the missile hit a gathering of Ukrainian and foreign military personnel.
Though he has expressed support for the Trump administration’s efforts to secure a cease-fire, Mr. Zelensky was critical of the tepid U.S. response to the attack on Kryvyi Rih, his hometown.
He said he was “unpleasantly surprised” by a social media post from the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, that expressed horror over the strike but did not directly condemn Russia.
And in his nightly address on Saturday, he said that he was “thankful to every country whose representatives have spoken out” about the strike and — although he did not single out the United States — emphasized that silence would embolden Moscow to “continue the war and keep ignoring diplomacy.”
“We must all remember: the war continues,” Mr. Zelensky added.
Ukrainian officials have accused President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of playing for time in cease-fire negotiations mediated by the Trump administration.
While Ukraine agreed last month to accept an unconditional 30-day halt in the fighting, Russia did not. Both sides have agreed in principle to temporarily halt strikes against energy infrastructure, only to accuse each other of violating the agreement. Kyiv and Moscow also committed to a cease-fire on the Black Sea last month in separate U.S.-mediated talks — but are still negotiating whether or how it will come into force.
Ukrainian officials say that, as the talks continue, Russia has shifted tactics in the missile and drone war by increasing the overall number of exploding drones and singling out certain cities for intense bombardments on some nights, rather than scattering attacks around the country.
Ukraine’s Air Force said on March 30 that 4,133 drones and missiles were fired that month, an increase from earlier months.
In Sunday’s attack, the Air Force said, Russia launched a mix of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.
In Kyiv, the aerial assault began with exploding drones. Missiles then followed, setting off air-raid alarms through the night and early morning.
Valentyn Maidaniuk, a Kyiv resident, said he saw explosions flashing in the sky and heard buzzing from the drones’ engines as he walked to an air-raid shelter early Sunday. In the end, he said, “I didn’t manage to sleep at all.”
Maria Varenikova contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.
Andrew E. Kramer is the Kyiv bureau chief for The Times, who has been covering the war in Ukraine since 2014. More about Andrew E. Kramer
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