Russia bombarded Kyiv early Thursday, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for dismissing a proposed peace deal that would recognize Moscow’s control over Crimea.
“According to preliminary data, 9 people were killed, 63 were injured, 42 were hospitalized, including 6 children,” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported Thursday morning, noting that rescue operations were underway at 13 locations across the capital.
It was one of the largest Russian aerial assaults, featuring missiles and drones, to target Kyiv in months. Emergency services also reported that rescuers had extinguished about 40 fires across nine regions of Ukraine.
“Kyiv and the region, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia regions were under massive combined Russian attack,” the emergency services said, adding that Kyiv had suffered the most damage.
Zelenskyy, who arrived in South Africa on Thursday to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa as part of a broader trip, announced he would cut his visit short and “return to Ukraine immediately after the meeting with the President of South Africa.”
“The Foreign Minister of Ukraine will hold all the necessary meetings in South Africa to fully inform the country’s political and civil society leaders about the situation,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia’s strikes come at a moment of intensifying political pressure for Zelenskyy, as Trump ramps up pressure on the Ukrainian leader to accept the U.S.-proposed peace deal, which favors Moscow.
On Wednesday, Trump criticized Zelenskyy for refusing to acknowledge Russia’s control of Crimea as part of the potential settlement. “It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this war. He has nothing to boast about!” Trump said.
In response, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha pointed out that Moscow’s aggressive tactics were the true barrier to peace.
“Yesterday’s Russian maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions, combined with these brutal strikes, show that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace. Moscow, not Kyiv, is where pressure should be applied,” Sybiha said Thursday morning.
Veronika Melkozerova contributed to this report.
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