Name: Russia launches major strikes on Ukraines Kyiv ahead of Trump-Zelenskyy talks
Uploaded: 2025-12-28T08:05:42.155Z
Duration: 2 min 34 s
Description: Russia has launched one of its largest attacks on Ukraine in recent months firing a barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv and other regions. The attack comes just hours before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet President Trump to discuss a possible end to the war.

Russia has launched one of its largest attacks on Ukraine in recent months firing a barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv and other regions. The attack comes just hours before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet President Trump to discuss a possible end to the war.

Kyiv

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv in one of the most significant attacks on the city in recent months, causing widespread damage to residential buildings and leaving hundreds of thousands without power and heating. Civilians sought shelter underground as Ukrainian forces attempted to intercept the barrage, and emergency crews worked to rescue survivors and treat the wounded.

The strikes occurred shortly before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was scheduled to meet former US President Donald Trump in Florida to discuss efforts to end the conflict. Ukrainian officials stated that the attacks demonstrate Russia's intent to escalate the war, now nearing its fourth year, and to undermine peace proposals with continued military aggression.

Russia launches major strikes on Ukraine's Kyiv ahead of Trump-Zelenskyy talks

The unmistakable sound of war, drones buzzing overhead and explosions as Russian missiles targeted the capital Kiev. Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the incoming barrage in what has been one of the largest attacks on the city in recent months. As the strikes continued, civilians took shelter underground with metro stations used as places of refuge, families waiting as air raid alerts stretched on for hours. By daylight the damage was clear, residential buildings torn open, rescue workers searching through rubble for survivors. The government says this is about more than destruction. The Russian Federation is sending a message that it's raising the stakes in this war and has no intention of ending it. It wants to plunge us into chaos, not only by targeting our energy sector, it wants to intimidate us at the end of the fourth year of the war. And for many Ukrainians, the attacks are deepening their anger and exhaustion. If something truly needs to be decided, it should happen here and now, not with meetings here, then there, then elsewhere, honestly, I'm tired of it all. Across the wider Kiev region, emergency crews raced between strike sites, attempting to salvage what remained of damaged homes and vehicles, despite the threat of further attacks. With the wounded carried from destroyed buildings and treated outside before being rushed to ambulances. Authorities say hundreds of thousands of homes lost power and heating was cut to large parts of the capital city as temperatures hovered around freezing. A day earlier in the eastern city of Kharkiv, Russian strikes hit residential areas. These attacks come hours before President Volodymyr Zelensky was set to meet President Donald Trump in Florida to discuss a US-backed plan to halt the fighting and outline a possible end to the war. Zelensky says Russia is answering peace proposals not with compromise but with missiles and drones, arguing the attacks show Moscow has no intention of ending a war now nearing its fourth year. Sonya Gallego, Al Jazeera.

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Russia launches major strikes on Ukraine's Kyiv ahead of Trump-Zelenskyy talks

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Ukraine Invasion