Zelenskyy Calls for More Pressure on Russia After Deadly Kyiv Missile Strike
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that a Russian missile strike on a nine-story Kyiv apartment building was a sign that more pressure must be applied on Moscow to agree to a cease-fire as Moscow intensifies attacks in the three-year war.
The drone and missile attack on Kyiv early Tuesday–the deadliest assault on the capital this year–killed 28 people across the city and injured 142 more, Kyiv Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said Thursday. Zelenskyy, along with the head of the presidential office, Andrii Yermak, and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, visited the site of the apartment building in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district Thursday morning, laying flowers and paying tribute to the 23 people who died there after a direct hit by a missile collapsed the structure.
'This attack is a reminder to the world that Russia rejects a cease-fire and chooses killing,' Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram and thanked Ukraine's partners who he said are ready to pressure Russia 'to feel the real cost of the war.'
Tuesday's attack on Kyiv was part of a sweeping barrage as Russia once again sought to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in what Zelenskyy called 'one of the biggest bombardments of the war,' now in its fourth year. As Russia proceeds with a summer offensive on parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, US-led peace efforts have failed to gain traction. Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected an offer from US President Donald Trump for an immediate 30-day cease-fire, making it conditional on a halt to Ukraine's mobilization effort and a freeze on Western arms supplies.
Meanwhile, Middle East tensions and US trade tariffs have drawn world attention away from Ukraine's pleas for more diplomatic and economic pressure to be placed on Moscow. Russia in recent weeks has intensified long-range attacks that have struck urban residential areas. Yet on Wednesday, Putin denied that his military had struck such targets, saying that attacks were against military industries, 'not residential quarters.'
Speaking to senior news leaders of international news agencies in St. Petersburg, Putin said he was open to talks with Zelenskyy but repeated his claim that the Ukrainian leader had lost his legitimacy after his term expired last year–allegations rejected by Kyiv and its allies.
'We are ready for substantive talks on the principles of a settlement,' Putin said, noting that a previous round of talks in Istanbul had led to an exchange of prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers.
Putin on Wednesday praised Trump's push for peace in Ukraine. But Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Thursday that it was his country that had unconditionally accepted the US proposal for a cease-fire and said that Russian claims of willingness to end the war were 'manipulations.'
'It has been exactly 100 days since Ukraine unconditionally accepted the US peace proposal to completely cease fire, put an end to the killing and move forward with a genuine peace process … 100 days of Russia escalating terror against Ukraine rather than ending it,' Sybiha wrote. 'Ukraine remains committed to peace. Unfortunately, Russia continues to choose war, disregarding US efforts to end the killing,' he added.
Overnight Wednesday, Russia fired a barrage of 104 Shahed and decoy drones across Ukraine, according to the country's air force. Of those, 88 were intercepted, jammed, or lost from radars mid-flight. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage caused by the attack.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
35 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Putin says ‘the whole of Ukraine is ours' in theory, may take city of Sumy
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russians and Ukrainians were one people, 'and in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours,' and said he did not rule out Russia taking control of the Ukrainian city of Sumy. But Putin, speaking at an international economic forum in St Petersburg, said Russia had never doubted Ukraine's right to sovereignty, but noted that when Ukraine declared its independence in 1991 it was as a 'neutral state.' Putin, who says Russia is fighting in Ukraine to protect its own security, was answering a question about Russia's war aims. 'We have a saying, or a parable,' Putin said. 'Where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours.' Kyiv and its Western allies have rejected Moscow's claims to four Ukrainian regions and Crimea as illegal, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected the notion that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. Putin said Russian forces were carving out a buffer zone in Ukraine's Sumy region in order to protect Russian territory and said he did not rule out those same troops taking control of the regional capital of Sumy.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
An adviser to an ex-Ukrainian president is killed near an American school in Spain, officials say
An adviser to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was shot to death Wednesday outside the American School of Madrid where at least one of his children was enrolled, Spanish authorities and witnesses said. Andrii Portnov, 51, was shot at 9:15 a.m. (0715 GMT) as students were arriving, Spain's Interior Ministry said. Portnov was a former politician tied closely to Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was ousted in a popular uprising in 2014 after shelving plans to bring the country closer to the European Union and instead deepen ties with President Vladimir Putin's Russia. Yanukovych's ouster in February 2014 followed a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, with dozens of people killed, many by police snipers. Portnov was deputy head of the presidential office in that period and was involved in drafting legislation aimed at punishing participants of the uprising. Ukrainian authorities opened a treason case against him, which was later closed, and he also was the subject of US sanctions involving corruption in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on Portnov's killing. Witnesses said Portnov was shot several times in the head and body by more than one gunman when he was getting into a Mercedes Benz registered to him, police said. The unidentified assailants then fled on foot, and local media reported police helicopters later flew over a nearby park. Portnov died in the parking lot with at least three shots to his body, Madrid's emergency services said. He had one child enrolled at the school, according to a parent and an uncle of students there who spoke with The Associated Press. The school declined to comment. After fleeing Ukraine in 2014, Portnov reportedly lived in Russia in 2015 before relocating to Austria. It wasn't immediately clear when he moved to Spain. In 2018, when pro-Western Petro Poroshenko was president of Ukraine, the country's Security Service, or SBU, opened an investigation against Portnov on suspicion of state treason, alleging his involvement in Russia's illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. The criminal case was closed in 2019, three months after Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to power. The United States imposed personal sanctions on Portnov in 2021, designating him as someone 'responsible for or complicit in, or (who) has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery.' Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there have been a number of killings of high-profile figures linked to Moscow and Kyiv. The killings have included Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist; military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky; and several high-ranking Russian military officers. In those instances, Ukraine denied involvement. One exception was former Ukrainian lawmaker Illia Kyva, who fled to Russia before the invasion and was killed there in 2023. The SBU said in a statement that its chief, Vasyl Maliuk, has said 'the enemies of Ukraine will definitely be held accountable for their crimes.' One killing that prompted speculation of retaliation by Moscow was the shooting death in Spain last year of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who defected to Ukraine in 2023, although there was no independent confirmation of Russia's involvement. Police cordoned off a crime scene in a parking lot outside the gate of the American School of Madrid, located in the upscale town of Pozuelo de Alarcón, north of Madrid. Luis Rayo, 19, who lives in a neighboring building, said he was sleeping when he heard gunfire and went to see what happened. One student who is in 11th grade said he was 20 minutes into his first class when he and his classmates heard of the shooting. School administrators told students that a man had been shot and pronounced dead outside. 'I thought it was a drill,' he said. 'I was worried because at first I thought it might be a parent of someone I know.' His mother, who is originally from Azerbaijan, said she knew someone through the emigré community with the same first name as the victim but did not know him well. 'I didn't know there were Ukrainian politicians there,' she said, adding that the man she knew had a son in the fourth grade. 'I was in shock. Like how is it possible that this happens here?'
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Putin says Russia plans to deepen military-technical ties with ‘friendly countries'
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia intends to develop military and technical cooperation with 'friendly countries' with whom Moscow wants to jointly produce arms and train military personnel. In a speech at Russia's showcase economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin said Moscow also planned to modernize its own armed forces and their bases by equipping them with the latest weapons and technology. 'We will harness new technology to improve the combat capabilities of the Russian armed forces, modernize military infrastructure facilities, (and) equip them with the latest technology and weapons and equipment,' he said. 'At the same time, we intend to develop military-technical co-operation with friendly countries. And we are talking not only about supplies or the modernization of equipment and weapons, but also about joint development, personnel training, and the creation of turn-key enterprises and production facilities,' he said. Talking about global trade, Putin said Russia planned to develop trade ties with its partners by removing barriers, opening up market niches and deepening investment cooperation.
