Russia Fires 36 Missiles and 172 Drones at Kyiv Days Before US-Brokered Peace Talks
Russia launched 36 ballistic missiles and 172 drones at Kyiv and 12 other regions overnight, Ukrainian officials said, damaging power networks that carry electricity from nuclear plants to the capital and closing a major bridge days before negotiators meet in Abu Dhabi.
KYIV, Ukraine. Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles and 172 drones at Kyiv and 12 other Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukrainian officials said Saturday, damaging power networks that carry electricity from nuclear plants to the capital and closing a major bridge across the Dnipro River.
At least nine people were wounded, including a child, according to Ukrainian officials. Reuters reported at least two people were killed across the country. The strikes came three days before negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are due to meet in Abu Dhabi for a new round of talks on ending the war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said air defenses shot down only four of the 36 ballistic missiles, citing a lack of Patriot interceptors. Ukraine’s air force said it downed 149 of the 172 drones.
Damage to power networks
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said the attacks damaged networks that carry electricity from nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central regions, along with other power facilities. Outages were most widespread in the Kyiv and central Zhytomyr regions, and in the eastern regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city’s energy situation was “extremely difficult,” affecting heating and water supply systems. He said later Saturday that water pressure in the city had been stabilized and work was already underway to repair the Northern Bridge, the 816-meter bridge that connects the city with large residential areas on the east bank of the Dnipro.
Zelenskyy said Russia hit a substation in Kyiv Oblast that links the western Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine. He said Russia was preparing for the talks by “launching ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure,” and he urged greater United States support, bipartisan backing from Congress and stronger sanctions on Russia.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed Saturday that it had targeted the Northern Bridge, saying it was used to transport weaponry and military equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces. It also said it had struck an industrial facility in the capital producing Flamingo missiles, a power station, an electrical substation and a plant producing ammunition in the wider Kyiv region.
Russia said its forces shot down 411 Ukrainian drones overnight over 10 Russian regions. A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person in Russia’s Belgorod region when a drone hit a private home in the town of Grayvoron, local officials said Saturday.
Talks set for Tuesday in Abu Dhabi
Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States are to meet Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for talks aimed at ending the war. The meeting would be the fourth round brokered by the Trump administration, the most recent having been in Geneva in February.
Meanwhile, a recovery operation continued into its sixth day in the village of Komyshuvakha in southern Ukraine, where the death toll reached 55 early Saturday after Russian guided bombs hit a former school and nearby shelter on Monday as residents waited for humanitarian aid. Emergency services had earlier reported 42 dead in the strike on the aid center, and dozens of people remain missing.
Reporting based on coverage by the Associated Press and Reuters.
