A barrage of Russian missiles and drones on Kyiv early Saturday killed one person, wounding at least 11 and cut off heating and electricity for hundreds of thousands of people, just a day ahead of planned talks between Ukrainian and U.S. leaders, authorities said.
An air alert lasted several hours after loud overnight explosions, some accompanied by bright flashes that turned the sky orange, according to AFP reporters in Kyiv.
The attack killed a 47-year-old woman, Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.
"There are already 19 persons affected in the capital. Eleven persons have been hospitalized," said Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. He added that 2,600 residential buildings and hundreds of kindergartens, schools and social buildings had lost heat.
"As of this morning, part of the left bank of the region remains without electricity. Currently, more than 320,000 consumers are without power," Kalashnyk added.
Ukraine's air force announced a countrywide air alert early Saturday and said that drones and missiles were moving over several Ukrainian regions.
The attack came ahead of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to discuss a proposed plan to end the fighting that has killed tens of thousands since 2022.
Russia accused Zelenskyy and his EU backers on Friday of seeking to "torpedo" the U.S.-brokered plan.
The latest plan is a 20-point proposal that would freeze the war on its current front line but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarized buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelenskyy this week.
