Ukraine’s capital Kyiv was targeted with missiles and drones in a Russian attack last night that killed at least one person and injured more than 20.
Polish fighter jets near to the border with Ukraine readied themselves to protect their airspace in response, temporarily closing airports.
It comes just hours before Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky was due to meet with US President Donald Trump for a critical peace talk.
Zelensky said 400 missiles and 500 drones pounded the city over 10 hours throughout the night and early morning of December 27. He said the main target was ‘energy and civilian infrastructure’.
A third of Kyiv residents awoke with no heating on a freezing cold morning. Over 320,000 households experienced a power cut from the strikes.
Seven locations were struck across Kyiv.
The city’s Military Administration said on Telegram a 24-storey residential building in Darnytsia was hit, with fires breaking out in an 18-storey residential block in Dnipro, and at two other districts.
A 16-year-old was among those injured in the attack.
President Zelensky called for more pressure on Russia. He said on X: ‘This is the true attitude of Putin and his inner circle.
‘They do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering and increase their pressure on others around the world.’
Polish fighter jets on the border with Ukraine readied themselves in response to the attack in case their airspace was compromised.
Commercial airports in Lublin and Rzeszów were temporarily shuttered on Saturday morning and reopened again around 8am.
It comes as Mr Zelensky is due to meet US president Donald Trump in Florida tomorrow for a key peace talk on ending Russia’s war.
Several issues in the peace plan, including control over eastern Ukraine and the management of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, still need to be addressed.
The war in Ukraine has lasted for nearly four years and killed tens of thousands of people.
In his post on X, Mr Zelensky called for increased pressure from allies and supplies for his country’s air defence.
He said: ‘If Russia turns even the Christmas and New Year period into a time of destroyed homes and burned apartments, of ruined power plants, then this sick activity can only be responded to with truly strong steps.
‘The United States has this capability. Europe has this capability. Many of our partners have this capability.
‘The key is to use it.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
