Russian missile and drone strikes hit Kyiv and 12 other Ukrainian regions overnight, wounding at least nine people and damaging homes and energy infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said Saturday. The attacks came days before planned talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States in Abu Dhabi.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched 36 missiles and 172 drones. He said Ukrainian forces intercepted four of the missiles. Those figures were reported by the Associated Press based on Zelenskyy’s account.
Strikes in Kyiv damaged residential and commercial buildings and caused new power and water outages, city and national authorities said. A kindergarten was partially destroyed, Zelenskyy said. Officials also closed the Northern Bridge, a major route linking the city with residential areas east of the Dnipro River.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said repair work had begun on the bridge and water pressure had stabilized. Earlier, he described the city’s energy situation as extremely difficult, with effects on heating and water supplies.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said the attacks damaged electricity networks carrying power from nuclear plants to Kyiv and central regions, along with other facilities. Outages were reported across Kyiv and Zhytomyr, as well as in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Scheduled rolling blackouts remained in place separately.
Talks planned in Abu Dhabi
Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are due to meet Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The discussions are aimed at ending the war, while territorial and security questions remain unresolved.
Zelenskyy accused Moscow of escalating its attacks ahead of the meeting. “Russia has a very particular view of diplomacy – as a subtype of aggression,” he wrote on social media, adding that he hoped the United States and other partners would “act on principle.”
Reid Bentley