Russian forces attacked Kyiv and several other cities across Ukraine with more than 20 missiles and two drones on Friday, killing at least 19 people and destroying residential and commercial buildings.
The attack was the largest of its kind in weeks and came two days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in their first phone call in more than 14 months, to negotiate an end to the Russian war.
Hours later, Ukrainian defense minister Oleskiy Reznikov told reporters in Kyiv that Ukraine had received most of the weapons promised by its western partners and was now completing preparations for an expected counteroffensive. this.
In the central city of Uman, 17 people were killed after missiles hit high-rise residential buildings, according to the Ukrainian national police.
Ten apartment buildings in the city were damaged, Zelenskyy said. “An entire block of one of them was destroyed. People are still trapped under the rubble.”
A mother and a young child were killed when their apartment was hit in the eastern city of Dnipro, according to the city’s mayor, Borys Filatov.
Rescuers were clearing debris from the scenes of both attacks on Friday, as they searched for more victims.
Air raid sirens rang out across Kyiv before dawn, signaling an imminent attack. There was no direct attack on Kyiv, but air defense systems could be heard engaging missiles. The Kyiv city administration reported the downing of 11 cruise missiles and two drones around the capital. Images showed a missile blast smashing the facade of an apartment block in the suburb of Ukrainka.
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s military chief, said air defense units destroyed 21 of 23 Kh-101 and Kh-555 cruise missiles in total. They were launched from the Caspian Sea at around 4 am, he added.
The bombing was the first aerial assault on Kyiv in 51 days, the city administration said.
The attack came less than 48 hours after Zelenskyy held his first phone call with China’s Xi since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
In a nearly hour-long call that Zelenskyy described as “long and meaningful”, Xi urged him to seek “political agreement”, according to China’s foreign ministry.
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“Dialogue and negotiation is the only way forward,” Xi said, indicating that he and his government wanted to act as mediators in the conflict.
“Missile strike that killed innocent Ukrainians in their sleep, including a two-year-old child, is Russia’s response to all peace initiatives,” Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. He repeated his plea for US fighter jets to protect the skies over his war-torn country. “The way to peace is to kick Russia out of Ukraine. The way to peace is to arm Ukraine with F-16s and protect children from Russian terror.”
Ukraine has also urged its western partners in recent weeks to step up deliveries of air defense munitions to shore up its dwindling supplies, which have mostly been used to defend power infrastructure and civilian targets in the winter from Russian missile and drone attacks.
The air defense systems are considered essential to Ukraine’s counter-offensive effort, which is expected to begin in the coming weeks, by providing air cover to advancing ground forces. Officials in Kyiv said the offensive would mark a “decisive moment” in the war.
Reznikov did not specify when the military operation would begin but told reporters, “all over the world, we are ready”.
“The next question is for the General Staff, for the command,” Reznikov said. “As soon as we have the will of God, the time and the decisions of the commanders, we will do it.”
Russian attacks were also carried out in several cities along the 600-mile frontline in southern and eastern Ukraine on Friday.
“This fear of Russia must face a fair response from Ukraine and the world. And it will happen,” said Zelenskyy.
