Russia bombarded Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones on Sunday that killed one individual and wounded a minimum of seven others, the most recent in a sequence of lethal assaults that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has stated makes clear Moscow has little actual curiosity in cease-fire negotiations.
Whereas Russian drone and missile assaults have been unrelenting all through greater than three years of battle, they’ve intensified in current weeks amid ongoing peace talks led by the Trump administration.
The Ukrainian authorities stated the barrage on Sunday killed one man, broken buildings and began fires in three neighborhoods of Kyiv, the capital. Harm and accidents had been additionally reported elsewhere in Ukraine, because the nation declared a day of mourning for a lethal strike on Friday within the metropolis of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.
A missile strike on a residential neighborhood there killed 19 folks, together with 9 kids, and wounded 74 others. It broken the courtyard of an house block, and emergency medical employees discovered a few of the wounded in a playground, movies launched by Ukraine’s emergency providers confirmed. Russia’s ministry of protection stated the missile hit a gathering of Ukrainian and international navy personnel.
Although he has expressed assist for the Trump administration’s efforts to safe a cease-fire, Mr. Zelensky was important of the tepid U.S. response to the assault on Kryvyi Rih, his hometown.
He stated he was “unpleasantly shocked” by a social media submit from the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, that expressed horror over the strike however didn’t immediately condemn Russia.
And in his nightly tackle on Saturday, he stated that he was “grateful to each nation whose representatives have spoken out” concerning the strike and — though he didn’t single out america — emphasised that silence would embolden Moscow to “proceed the battle and hold ignoring diplomacy.”
“We should all keep in mind: the battle continues,” Mr. Zelensky added.
Ukrainian officers have accused President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of taking part in for time in cease-fire negotiations mediated by the Trump administration.
Whereas Ukraine agreed final month to simply accept an unconditional 30-day halt within the combating, Russia didn’t. Either side have agreed in precept to briefly halt strikes in opposition to power infrastructure, solely to accuse one another of violating the settlement. Kyiv and Moscow additionally dedicated to a cease-fire on the Black Sea final month in separate U.S.-mediated talks — however are nonetheless negotiating whether or not or the way it will come into drive.
Ukrainian officers say that, because the talks proceed, Russia has shifted techniques within the missile and drone battle by rising the general variety of exploding drones and singling out sure cities for intense bombardments on some nights, somewhat than scattering assaults across the nation.
Ukraine’s Air Power stated on March 30 that 4,133 drones and missiles had been fired that month, a rise from earlier months.
In Sunday’s assault, the Air Power stated, Russia launched a mixture of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.
In Kyiv, the aerial assault started with exploding drones. Missiles then adopted, setting off air-raid alarms by way of the night time and early morning.
Valentyn Maidaniuk, a Kyiv resident, stated he noticed explosions flashing within the sky and heard buzzing from the drones’ engines as he walked to an air-raid shelter early Sunday. In the long run, he stated, “I didn’t handle to sleep in any respect.”
Maria Varenikova contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.
