Missile explosions struck across Ukraine on Saturday, wounding at least nine people, as Kyiv and Moscow prepared for new talks next week with the United States.
Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the US are to meet on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for talks aimed at ending the war. The new round of negotiations would be the fourth brokered by the Trump administration, the most recent having been in Geneva in February.
Western Governments backing the peace initiative are seeking a new formula to break the impasse while acknowledging that territorial and security questions remain unresolved. The Russian missiles that hit the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight damaged homes and commercial properties, triggering new power and water outages, national and city authorities said.
Strikes also prompted officials to close Kyiv’s Northern Bridge, a major route that allows commuter traffic in the capital to cross the Dnipro River. “As a result of the enemy’s night attack, energy facilities in the Kyiv and ... Zhytomyr regions were damaged,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. “The situation with the capital’s energy supply is extremely difficult, affecting the city’s heating and water supply systems.”
In a statement Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was preparing for trilateral talks by “launching ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.”
The Ukrainian leader said that Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight. The barrage also involved 172 drones over Kyiv and 12 other regions, wounding nine people, including a child, he said.
“When Russia tries to plunge Kyiv - a city of millions - and the entire country into a blackout, Ukraine must not be left to face this alone,” Zelenskyy said. He urged greater US support and attention from Congress, calling for bipartisan backing for Ukraine and stronger sanctions on Russia. Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed Saturday that it had targeted the Northern Bridge, saying that it facilitated the transport of weaponry, military hardware and specialist equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces.
It also said that it had targeted an industrial facility in the capital producing Flamingo missiles, as well as a power station, an electrical substation, and a plant producing ammunition, explosives and gunpowder in the wider Kyiv region. It also confirmed striking an electrical substation in the Zhytomyr region.
Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, a recovery operation continued into its sixth day in the village of Komyshuvakha, devastated on Monday when multiple Russian guided bombs slammed into a former school and nearby shelter as residents waited for humanitarian aid.