KYIV: Russia launched dozens of drones and missiles at Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens of others, as negotiations faltered between Kyiv and Moscow.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the latest overnight barrage as “one of the most horrific attacks” on Kyiv since the Kremlin launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.

Zelensky said a total of 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched in the strikes nationwide and urged the international community not to “turn a blind eye”. “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin does this solely because he can afford to continue the war. He wants the war to go on,” he said. Journalists saw smoke billowing over the capital’s skyline at dawn and a multiple-storey housing block gutted by the attack. Rescue workers were scrambling to find any survivors buried beneath the rubble. “It was probably the most hellish night in my memory for our neighbourhood,” 20-year-old student Alina Shtompel said.

“It is indescribably painful that our people are going through this right now.” More than three years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has stepped up attacks despite efforts by the United States to broker a ceasefire. Talks have stalled. Moscow has rejected the “unconditional” truce demanded by Kyiv and its European allies, while Ukraine has dismissed Russia’s demands as “ultimatums”.

Zelensky had been hoping to speak with US leader Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, but the US leader cut short his visit, amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. Russia hit some 27 sites in Kyiv overnight and some residents were left without electricity, officials said.

“Twelve people have died as a result of Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight. Ten of them were in Kyiv and two more were pulled from the rubble in Odesa,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said, revising down an earlier toll.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2025