A Russian missile strike on Kyiv early in the morning killed at least one civilian, injured three others, and ignited multiple fires across the city, according to Ukrainian officials.
“Russia carried out a missile strike on Kyiv and the Kyiv region,” Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
“This is how (Vladimir) wants the war to end.”
Peace Negotiations
Prospects for renewed peace negotiations to end the war that Russia launched on Ukraine nearly three years ago have increased after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had been in contact with Kyiv and Putin.
Zelenskyy also said on Tuesday that Kyiv will soon hold talks with U.S. officials.
Fatality Reported
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that at least one person was killed and three injured, including a 9-year-old child, as a result of the Russian missile strike and emergency services were called to at least four districts of the Ukrainian capital.
The military administration said that fires broke out at several residential and non-residential buildings.
Series Of Explosions
Air raid alerts were imposed only at the start of the attack at around 0227 GMT. It was not immediately clear what missiles were used, but the late launch of air raid alerts suggests they were difficult to detect by radar.
Reuters’ witnesses reported hearing a series of explosions in what sounded like air defence systems in operation.
Escalating Air Attacks
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the full-scale invasion Russia launched in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Kyiv has often said its air attacks inside Russia aim at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow’s war efforts and are in response to Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war nearly three years ago.
(With inputs from Reuters)
