KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two people were killed when Russia bombarded the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with drones and missiles overnight, local authorities said Tuesday, and a Russian-installed official in illegally annexed Crimea said a Ukrainian attack killed two people there.
The attacks came soon after the warring countries had paused attacks on each other's capitals over the weekend as U.S. envoys made a renewed push to narrow the differences between Moscow and Kyiv and steer them toward a peace settlement.
With neither side able to deliver a knockout blow in the war that started after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion, and with armies on the front line largely stuck, Russia and Ukraine have in recent months intensified their air war in an effort to grind each other down.
The visit to Moscow and Kyiv by Washington envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff produced no significant breakthrough that might stop the fighting.
Top Ukraine diplomat says ‘horrific’ attack hurts peace efforts
The main targets of Russia's overnight attack were Kyiv and the southern Odesa region. At least 16 people were wounded in Kyiv, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said. There was no immediate tally of casualties in Odesa.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv for nearly five hours, according to Vyhivskyi. More than 50 sites were damaged in Kyiv during the Russian overnight attack Tuesday, including residential buildings, dormitories, schools, shops, gas stations and a flour production plant, he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it “a horrific attack” and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of undermining U.S. peace efforts.
“His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words on diplomacy,” Sybiha said on X, referring to Putin. “Strike after strike on residential buildings brings him no closer to winning this war — it is nothing but senseless terror.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram that the attack was complex and appeared deliberately designed to cause maximum damage, involving ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles and Shahed drones.
Russia says it hit military-related targets
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces overnight launched a massive strike with “land-, air-, and sea-based precision weapons, as well as long-range unmanned aerial vehicles” on Ukrainian military industry facilities. It provided a detailed list of its targets.
The targets included places storing Ukrainian drones and cruise missiles, as well transport, logistics and distribution centers for military cargo in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, the ministry said.
Infrastructure in the port of Chornomorsk in the Odesa region used for “unloading military cargo” also was struck. Additionally, the Russian forces hit a tanker carrying fuel and lubricants for the Ukrainian armed forces, the ministry said.
In the meantime, a Ukrainian attack on Crimea killed two people and wounded one, the peninsula’s Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov said.
People rescued from Kyiv apartment blocks after attack
The Russian attack caused damage and fires in at least five districts of the capital, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. The Kyiv City Military Administration said civilian infrastructure was damaged in at least 16 locations.
A 26-story non-residential building was hit in the Holosiivskyi district. Rescuers saved one person during a search and two people were evacuated from an apartment in a 16-story residential building, officials said.
People also were trapped in a five-story, residential building in Solomianskyi district, according to authorities.
Kyiv resident Iryna Barisenkova, 61, said she heard explosions while traveling on public transport and was told there was a large fire near the Darnytskyi Vehicle Repair Plant on the capital’s left bank.
“Everything was thundering on the left bank,” Barisenkova said. “It was just brutal.”
Barisenkova said she had slept well during the previous two nights while Witkoff and Kushner traveled to Kyiv and then stayed in the city.
“We got some rest, thanks to them,” she said. “Let them come more often so they don’t shell us.”
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Associated Press journalist Vasilisa Stepanenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
