Russia bombarded Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones on Sunday that killed one particular person and wounded no less than seven others, the newest in a collection of lethal assaults that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has mentioned makes clear Moscow has little actual curiosity in cease-fire negotiations.
Whereas Russian drone and missile assaults have been unrelenting all through greater than three years of conflict, they’ve intensified in current weeks amid ongoing peace talks led by the Trump administration.
The Ukrainian authorities mentioned the barrage on Sunday killed one man, broken buildings and began fires in three neighborhoods of Kyiv, the capital. Harm and accidents have been additionally reported elsewhere in Ukraine, because the nation declared a day of mourning for a deadly strike on Friday within the metropolis of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.
A missile strike on a residential neighborhood there killed 19 individuals, together with 9 youngsters, and wounded 74 others. It broken the courtyard of an condominium block, and emergency medical staff discovered a few of the wounded in a playground, movies launched by Ukraine’s emergency providers confirmed. Russia’s ministry of protection mentioned the missile hit a gathering of Ukrainian and overseas army personnel.
Although he has expressed help for the Trump administration’s efforts to safe a cease-fire, Mr. Zelensky was important of the tepid U.S. response to the assault on Kryvyi Rih, his hometown.
He mentioned he was “unpleasantly shocked” by a social media post from the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, that expressed horror over the strike however didn’t immediately condemn Russia.
And in his nightly tackle on Saturday, he mentioned that he was “grateful to each nation whose representatives have spoken out” in regards to the strike and — though he didn’t single out the USA — emphasised that silence would embolden Moscow to “proceed the conflict and maintain ignoring diplomacy.”
“We should all keep in mind: the conflict continues,” Mr. Zelensky added.
Ukrainian officers have accused President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of enjoying for time in cease-fire negotiations mediated by the Trump administration.
Whereas Ukraine agreed final month to simply accept an unconditional 30-day halt within the combating, Russia didn’t. Either side have agreed in precept to quickly halt strikes in opposition to vitality infrastructure, only to accuse each other of violating the settlement. Kyiv and Moscow additionally dedicated to a cease-fire on the Black Sea final month in separate U.S.-mediated talks — however are nonetheless negotiating whether or not or the way it will come into drive.
Ukrainian officers say that, because the talks proceed, Russia has shifted techniques within the missile and drone conflict by rising the general variety of exploding drones and singling out sure cities for intense bombardments on some nights, fairly than scattering assaults across the nation.
Ukraine’s Air Pressure mentioned on March 30 that 4,133 drones and missiles have been fired that month, a rise from earlier months.
In Sunday’s assault, the Air Pressure mentioned, Russia launched a mixture of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.
In Kyiv, the aerial assault started with exploding drones. Missiles then adopted, setting off air-raid alarms by means of the night time and early morning.
Valentyn Maidaniuk, a Kyiv resident, mentioned he noticed explosions flashing within the sky and heard buzzing from the drones’ engines as he walked to an air-raid shelter early Sunday. In the long run, he mentioned, “I didn’t handle to sleep in any respect.”
Maria Varenikova contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.
