KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital on Wednesday, killing at least two people, Ukrainian officials said.
Emergency services rescued 10 people after a fire caused by drone debris hit the sixth floor of a 16-story residential building in the Dnipro district of the capital. Kyiv, where two people were found dead, local authorities reported.
The attack also blew out windows of a medical facility and debris was found at another residential building, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on his Telegram channel.
In the Darnytskyi district of the capital emergency services were responding after drone debris hit a 17-story residential building causing a fire on five floors. Fifteen people had to be rescued including two children.
In the Desnianskyi district, 20 people were rescued after the façade of a 10-story building was damaged and a gas pipe caught fire.
Debris from a drone also fell on a dormitory building and rescue workers were headed to the scene, Klitschko said.
The large-scale overnight aerial attack also targeted other cities in Ukraine including Zaporizhzhia and the port city of Izmail in the southern Odesa region.
The attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been trying to strengthen Ukraine’s position by seeking long-range Tomahawk missiles from the United States, although President Donald Trump has waffled on whether he would provide them.
“We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday in a Telegram post.
Ukraine is hoping to purchase 25 Patriot air defense systems from U.S. firms using frozen Russian assets and assistance from partners, but Zelenskyy said procuring them would require time because of long production waits. He said he has spoken to Trump about help procuring them more quickly, potentially from European partners.
Zelenskyy said earlier this week that the U.S. is interested in bilateral gas projects with Ukraine, including the construction of an LNG terminal in the southern port city of Odesa. Other projects of interest include those related to nuclear energy and oil.
On Wednesday, Trump is expected to hold talks in the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them purchased from the U.S. by Canada and European countries.
A meeting of the Coalition of the Willing — a group of 35 countries who support Ukraine — is due to take place in London on Friday.
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