Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday cut short an official visit to South Africa to return to Kyiv after a major Russian missile and drone attack on the capital killed at least nine people and wounded over 70.
The Russian attack on Kyiv came as weeks of peace negotiations appeared to be coming to a head without an agreement in sight and hours after U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy, accusing him of prolonging the "killing field” by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal.
Zelenskyy has repeated many times during the more than three-year war that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country. He noted Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to a U.S. cease-fire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russia’s attacks had continued.
While talks have been going on in recent weeks, Russia has hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.
Senior U.S. officials have warned that the Trump administration could soon give up its efforts to stop the war if the two sides don't compromise.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack showed Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to press his bigger army’s advantage on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where it currently holds the momentum.
"Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war,” Sybiha said on X. "Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression. Only strength and pressure will.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Russian attacks have killed some 13,000 civilians, including 618 children.
At least 42 people were hospitalized following the attack on residential suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, four plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine.
Rescue workers with flashlights scoured the charred rubble of partly collapsed homes as the blue lights of emergency vehicles lit up the dark city streets.
At a Kyiv residential building that was almost entirely destroyed, emergency workers removed rubble with their hands, rescuing a trapped woman who emerged from the wreckage covered in white dust and moaning in pain.
An elderly woman sat against a brick wall, face smeared with blood, her eyes fixed to the ground in shock as medics tended to her wounds.
Fires were reported in several residential buildings said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city military administration.
The attack, which began around 1 a.m., hit at least five neighborhoods in Kyiv.
Oksana Bilozir, a student, suffered a head injury in the attack. With blood seeping from her bandaged head, she said that she heard a loud explosion after the air alarm blared and began to grab her things to flee to a shelter when another blast caused her home’s walls to crumble and the lights to go off.
"I honestly don’t even know how this will all end, it’s very scary,” said Bilozir, referring to the war against Russia’s invasion. "I only believe that if we can stop them on the battlefield, then that’s it. No diplomacy works here.”
The attack kept many people awake all night long as multiple loud explosions reverberated around the city and flashes of light punctuated the sky. Families gathered in public air raid shelters, some of them bringing their pet cat and dog.
Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that he would fly back to Kyiv after meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Ukrainian leader had hoped to recruit further South African support in efforts to end his country’s war with Russia, now in its fourth year.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the Kyiv attack was "yet another appalling violation of international humanitarian law.”
"Civilians must never be targets. This senseless use of force must stop,” it said in a statement.
Anastasiia Zhuravlova, 33, a mother of two, was sheltering in a basement after multiple blasts damaged her home.
Her family was sleeping when the first explosion shattered their windows and sent kitchen appliances flying in the air. Shards of glass rained down on them as they rushed to take cover in the corridor.
"After that we came to the shelter because it was scary and dangerous at home,” she said.
