Deadly missile and drone moves batter Kyiv for 2d night time

Russia has introduced a 2d immediately night time of big drone and ballistic missile moves towards Ukraine, with the capital town, Kyiv, as soon as once more the focal point of heavy assault.

Across the rustic 9 other people have been killed, together with 3 kids within the Kyiv area, and dozens extra injured, in step with studies on Sunday morning.

The air raids got here as Russia and Ukraine exchanged masses extra prisoners Saturday in a proceeding primary switch that amounted to an extraordinary second of cooperation amid in a different way failed efforts to achieve a ceasefire.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, mentioned Russia’s assaults indicated Moscow was once “prolonging the war” and repeated his name for ramped-up sanctions.

But he additionally mentioned he anticipated officers to press on with a prisoner switch agreed all through talks ultimate week in Istanbul.

Russian moves hit places proper throughout Ukraine from the southern coast and east to the west.

Four other people have been reported useless within the western Khmelnytskyi area, 4 within the Kyiv area, and one in Mykolaiv within the south.

“Last night, the Khmelnytskyi region came under hostile Russian fire, which resulted in the destruction of civilian infrastructure … Unfortunately, four people were killed,” Sergiy Tyurin, the deputy head of the regional army management, mentioned in a Telegram submit.

Emergency services and products posted that 4 other people have been killed and 16 injured within the Kyiv area, together with 3 kids, within the “massive night attack”.

The depth and frequency of this weekend’s moves put paid to the declare by way of the United States president, Donald Trump, that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is concerned about “peace”.

At time of writing, Trump, who has been vocal in speaking up his peace efforts, had now not commented at the weekend’s heavy moves.

The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, mentioned “there are already 10 injured” in Kyiv as of 3am on Sunday, including {that a} scholar dormitory in Holosiivskyi district have been hit by way of a drone and one in all its out of doors partitions was once on hearth.

The assaults intended Kyiv Day – celebrated at the ultimate Sunday in May – started with exhausted citizens as soon as once more sheltered in bunkers, metro stations and basements.

Odesa, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Konotop, Chernihiv, Ternopil, and Kharkiv have been additionally hit in step with native media studies.

With waves of drones starting at round nighttime on Saturday, accompanied by way of warnings of ballistic missile launches because the night time wore on, a Guardian reporter in Kyiv heard 3 drones succeed in the centre of the town, in spite of motion by way of air defences, sooner than the sound of loud detonations.

Russian government in the meantime reported {that a} dozen drones flying in opposition to Moscow have been downed.

The newest hearth comes as the 2 facets pursue their largest prisoner switch since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The assault on Kyiv started with Tymur Tkachenko, the top of the town’s army management, caution “the night will not be easy” as citizens tracked waves of launches on air raid caution apps.

At one level Tkachenko reported “more than a dozen enemy drones” have been flying across the capital.

“Some of the drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area have already been dealt with. But the new ones are still entering the capital,” he posted.