Russian drones, missiles pound Ukraine ahead of Zelensky-Trump meeting

People walk a dark street during an electricity cut-off in Kyiv, Ukraine, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. (EPA Images pic)KYIV: Russia attacked Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on Saturday, ahead of what President Volodymyr Zelensky said would be a crucial meeting with US President Donald Trump to work out a plan to end nearly four years of war.Zelensky cast the vast overnight attack, which he said involved about 500 drones and 40 missiles and which knocked out power and heat in parts of the capital, as Russia’s response to the ongoing peace efforts brokered by Washington.The Ukrainian leader has said Sunday’s talks in Florida would focus on security guarantees and territorial control once fighting ends in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two, started by Russia’s 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.The attack continued throughout the morning, with a nearly 10-hour air raid alert for the capital. Authorities said two people were killed in Kyiv and the surrounding region, while at least 46 people were wounded, including two children.“Today, Russia demonstrated how it responds to peaceful negotiations between Ukraine and the United States to end Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Zelensky told reporters.In Russia, air defence forces shot down eight drones headed for Moscow, the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Saturday.Thousands of homes without heatExplosions echoed across Kyiv from the early hours on Saturday as Ukraine’s air defence units went into action. The air force said Russian drones were targeting the capital and regions in the northeast and south.State grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities across Ukraine were struck, and emergency power cuts had been implemented across the capital.DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said the attack had left more than a million households in and around Kyiv without power, 750,000 of which remained disconnected by the afternoon.Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said over 40% of residential buildings in Kyiv were left without heat as temperatures hovered around 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday.Territorial control: a diplomatic stumbling blockOn the way to meeting Trump in Florida, Zelensky stopped in Canada’s Halifax to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney.In a brief statement with Zelensky by his side, Carney noted that peace “requires a willing Russia.”“The barbarism that we saw overnight- the attack on Kyiv- shows just how important it is that we stand with Ukraine in this difficult time,” he said, announcing CA$2.5 billion (US$1.83 billion) in additional economic aid to Ukraine.After the meeting Zelensky spoke to European leaders. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said afterwards on X: “We welcome all efforts leading to our shared objective – a just and lasting peace that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And that strengthens the country’s security and defence capabilities”.Territory and the future of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant remain the main diplomatic stumbling blocks, though Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv on Friday that a 20-point draft document – the cornerstone of a US push to clinch a peace deal – is 90% complete.He said the shape of US security guarantees was crucial, and these would depend on Trump, and “what he is ready to give, when he is ready to give it, and for how long”.Zelensky told Axios earlier this week that the US had offered a 15-year deal on security guarantees, subject to renewal, but Kyiv wanted a longer agreement with legally binding provisions to guard against further Russian aggression.Trump said the US was the driving force behind the process.“He doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” Trump told Politico.“So we’ll see what he’s got,” he said.Trump said he believed Sunday’s meeting would go well.He also said he expected to speak with Putin “soon, as much as I want”.Fate of Donetsk is keyMoscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from a large, densely urbanised chunk of the eastern region of Donetsk that Russian troops have failed to occupy in nearly four years of war. Kyiv wants the fighting halted at the current lines.Russia has been grinding slowly forwards throughout 2025 at the cost of significant casualties on the drone-infested battlefield.On Saturday, both sides issued conflicting claims about two frontline towns: Myrnohrad in the east and Huliaipole in the south.Moscow claimed to have captured both, while Kyiv said it had beaten back Russian assaults there.Under a US compromise, a free economic zone would be set up if Ukrainian troops pull back from parts of the Donetsk region, though details have yet to be worked out.Axios quoted Zelensky as saying that if he is not able to push the US to back Ukraine’s position on the land issue, he was willing to put the 20-point plan to a referendum – as long as Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire allowing Ukraine to prepare for and hold the vote.On Saturday, Zelensky said it was not possible to have such a referendum while Russia was bombarding Ukrainian cities.He also suggested that he would be ready for “dialogue” with the people of Ukraine if they disagreed with points of the plan.Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Kyiv’s version of the 20-point plan differed from what Russia had been discussing with the US, according to the Interfax-Russia news agency.However, he expressed optimism that matters had reached a “turning point” in the search for a settlement.

MatchPoint Times

Russian drones, missiles pound Ukraine ahead of Zelensky-Trump meeting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the vast overnight attack, involving about 500 drones and 40 missiles, knocked out power and heat in parts of the capital.

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