Kyiv was struck by Russian missiles and drones overnight, resulting in at least one fatality and 27 injuries. The attack occurred ahead of scheduled talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida later today.
Explosions reverberated across Kyiv as the assault began in the early morning hours and continued for several hours.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated it conducted a “wide-ranging strike” using precision-guided, long-range air, land, and sea-based weaponry, including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and drones. The Ministry asserted the targets were energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukrainian forces and military-industrial enterprises.
According to the Russian statement, the strike was a response to Ukrainian attacks targeting civilian sites within Russia.
Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defenses intercepted seven Ukrainian drones over Russia’s Krasnodar and Adygea regions overnight. Later in the afternoon, they claimed to have downed an additional 147 drones over various Russian regions. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses intercepted over 20 drones “heading” toward the Russian capital on Saturday.
In what could be interpreted as an effort to increase pressure on Ukraine ahead of the Zelensky-Trump discussions, the Kremlin released a video Saturday evening showing President Putin in military attire receiving updates from senior military commanders at an undisclosed military command post. General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, informed Putin that Russian forces had taken complete control of Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, using the city’s old Soviet name, Dymytrov, as well as the city of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region.
