Russia launched its largest air attack against Ukraine since the start of the war on Sunday, setting Kyiv’s government headquarters on fire and killing at least five, including one infant.
Forty-four more were injured in the attack that the Ukrainian Defense Department said included over 800 Shahed-type strike drones; 9 Iskander-K cruise missiles; and 4 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, which hit residential apartments and set ablaze the building where the Cabinet of Ministers convenes.
It was the second mass Russian drone and missile attack to target Kyiv in as many weeks, and comes less than a month after President Donald Trump’s high-stakes peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska failed to achieve a ceasefire.
Read More: How Putin Brushed Off Trump’s Latest Push for Peace in Ukraine
Trump has been under mounting pressure to impose greater sanctions on Russia for its continued attacks on Ukraine, even as the president has continued to apportion blame for the continuation of the conflict on both sides and on Europe.
Following the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again called on Trump to punish Putin for the attacks.
“Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” Zelensky said on X, calling on his allies to aid in bolstering Ukraine’s defenses. “It has been repeatedly said in Washington that sanctions will follow a refusal to talk…The world can force the Kremlin criminals to stop the killings – all that is needed is political will.”
Zelensky added that he had spoken to French President Emannuel Macron about boosting Ukraine’s air defenses.
The attack is likely to increase pressure on Trump to impose sanctions on Russia, as he has promised to do if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.
Soon after the talks in Alaska, Trump said he was working to arrange a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. But Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that no such meeting was in the works.
In recent days, Trump has continued to insist that talks between Zelensky and Putin are possible despite a ratcheting up of Russian attacks.
“I’ve been watching it, I’ve been seeing it, and I’ve been talking about it with President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump told CBS earlier this week. “Something is going to happen, but they are not ready yet. But something is going to happen. We are going to get it done.”
Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram that more than 90 rescuers, more than 160 police officers, and more than 200 utility workers were working Sunday at the site of the attack in the district of Svyatoshyn in Kyiv. This is the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that its strikes have hit and damaged the government headquarters in the center of the city, which lies close to Zelensky’s office.
There were reports from Zelensky and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, of people injured or killed in other parts of the country that also came under attack last night, including Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Odessa.
The attack also comes just days after a meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Paris, with over 30 countries participating in discussions for security guarantees for Kyiv. Top U.S. official and United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff was in attendance at the meeting where Zelensky gave a “special thanks” to Trump for “all his efforts to end this war and for America’s readiness to provide support to Ukraine on its part.”
During the meeting, European world leaders, including French President Emanuel Macron, accused Russia of stalling peace negotiations.
“If Moscow doesn’t want to respect these conditions, we will have to take further steps with the U.S.,” Macron said. “The key argument here is that there are no limitations for the defence of Ukraine.”
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