Six Killed in Russian Overnight Strikes on Kyiv, Throws Ukraine into Total Darkness
A Russian overnight bombardment on Ukraine killed six people, including two children, and left thousands without power in freezing temperatures, Ukrainian authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
The assault struck Kyiv and surrounding areas, intensifying a conflict that has dragged on for nearly four years.
It came just a day after renewed peace efforts collapsed following the cancellation of a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Another night proving that Russia does not feel enough pressure for dragging out the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media after the attack.
“As of now, 17 people are known to have been injured. Unfortunately, six people were killed, among them two children.”
AFP journalists in Kyiv reported hearing several explosions during the night and seeing plumes of smoke rising above the capital.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said the strikes targeted key infrastructure, forcing emergency power outages in multiple regions.
“Due to a massive missile and drone attack on the energy infrastructure, emergency power outages have been introduced in most regions of Ukraine,” the ministry said.
Russia claimed to have intercepted 33 Ukrainian drones overnight but did not acknowledge any damage within its territory.
The assault coincided with diplomatic turmoil. Trump had planned to meet Putin in Budapest within two weeks for peace talks, following what he described as a productive phone conversation.
However, the meeting was called off amid international backlash and internal disagreements over Ukraine’s sovereignty.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that Trump had recently urged Zelensky, during a White House meeting, to consider ceding the eastern Donbas region to Russia, a proposal Kyiv has flatly rejected.
European allies have also opposed any territorial concessions, instead suggesting a freeze in fighting along the current front lines.
Zelensky dismissed Russia’s diplomatic overtures as insincere. “Russian words about diplomacy mean nothing as long as the Russian leadership does not feel critical problems,” he said.
Since President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has seized roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, leaving much of it devastated.
The war has killed tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers, displaced millions, and caused widespread destruction across Ukraine.
