Photo by Sergey Galyonkin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, early on Saturday, damaging residential buildings and a kindergarten just three days before US-led peace talks are due to open in Abu Dhabi.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions were heard in the suburbs of the capital as Russian ballistic missiles targeted infrastructure. "Explosions in the Kyiv suburbs. The enemy is hitting infrastructure with ballistic missiles," Klitschko wrote on Telegram, according to Reuters.
The strike was the latest in a long series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Moscow has repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure and civilian areas, and Kyiv's air defences have often been left to intercept missiles and drones over residential neighbourhoods, where falling debris can cause as much damage as a direct hit.
Debris Hits Apartment Building and Kindergarten
Klitschko said debris from the attack struck a five-storey apartment building in a western district of the capital, and the facade of another residential building was also damaged.
The city's military administration, also writing on Telegram, said two people were injured and a building housing a kindergarten was damaged.
Officials continued to warn residents of the possibility of further strikes hours after the attack, as air-raid alerts remained a feature of daily life in the capital.
Zelenskyy Warns of More Attacks on Infrastructure
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said in his nightly video address before the attack that Russia was preparing new strikes on energy targets, bridges and other infrastructure, Reuters reported.
The warning underlined Kyiv's expectation that Moscow would keep up pressure on Ukraine's cities and power grid even as diplomats prepare to meet. With winter approaching, attacks on energy infrastructure carry particular weight, threatening heating and electricity for millions of Ukrainians.
Ukraine has repeatedly urged its Western partners to supply more air-defence systems, arguing that protecting the skies over its cities is essential both for civilian safety and for keeping the country's economy and energy network functioning through the war.
Talks in Abu Dhabi Open Tuesday
The attacks came three days before negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are set to meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss ending the war, now in its fourth-and-a-half year. It will be the fourth round of negotiations brokered by the Trump administration; the last such talks took place in February.
Russia has named its spy chief to lead its delegation to the talks, while Zelenskyy has warned that the security plan under discussion could be "dangerous" for Ukraine — a sign of the deep mistrust hanging over the negotiations even before the latest missiles fell on Kyiv.
Whether the strike hardens positions or adds urgency to the talks will become clearer when the delegations sit down on Tuesday. For now, Kyiv is counting the damage from another night under fire, and its residents are bracing for the possibility of more attacks before the negotiators even reach the table.
Sources: Reuters; The Associated Press.