A renewed aerial offensive struck Ukraine’s capital early Saturday, resulting in casualties and significant damage to residential areas as peace negotiations between Ukrainian and U.S. officials gained momentum.
According to Kyiv municipal authorities, Russian forces launched coordinated drone and missile attacks targeting multiple districts across the city. The assault claimed at least one life and left seven civilians wounded, including a 13-year-old adolescent. Emergency responders recovered the body of a male victim from the devastated Sviatoshynskyi sector in western Kyiv.
Mayor Vitaly Klitschko confirmed extensive structural damage, with strikes igniting substantial blazes in high-rise residential complexes. Firefighting teams successfully contained a major conflagration in the central metropolitan zone while combating flames engulfing lower levels of an apartment tower west of the urban core.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, reported through Telegram that defensive systems engaged hostile drones over the capital while ground forces responded to impacts on peripheral targets. The eastern municipality of Brovary similarly sustained attacks targeting civilian infrastructure, leaving two women among the injured.
This escalation follows Thursday’s diplomatic developments where President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow’s non-negotiable terms for ceasing hostilities, demanding complete Ukrainian withdrawal from disputed territories. Concurrently, a revised U.S. peace proposal—initially favoring Russian positions—underwent substantial modifications during bilateral talks in Geneva.
President Volodymyr Zelensky characterized the upcoming negotiations as critical for transforming diplomatic progress into concrete security guarantees. A U.S. delegation including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is anticipated in Moscow next week to advance discussions on the draft settlement framework.