𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia’s president Putin of taking advantage of some countries looking away from the conflict to continue bombing Ukraine and killing children.

“We expect a reaction from China to what is going on. China has repeatedly called for not expanding the war and for a ceasefire. Yet this is not happening because of Russia. We expect a reaction from Hungary,” he said on X this morning after a massive attack on Kyiv killed eight.

“The death of children should definitely stir far greater emotions than anything else. We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace but now more often stays silent rather than taking principled positions,” he said.

He also said Russia has broken all deadlines and ruined dozens of opportunities for diplomacy.

“Russia must feel accountable for every strike, for every day of this war,” Zelensky said.

At least 30 people injured in the attack have been hospitalised, local authorities said.

Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed at least eight people, including a child, have died in the overnight Russian attack on Kyiv.

“Another massive attack against our cities and communities. Killings again. Tragically, at least 8 people have already been confirmed dead. One of them is a child,” said on X.

Zelensky said Russia is choosing ballistic missiles to hit Kyiv, instead of coming to the negotiating table.

“People may still be trapped under the rubble. Dozens are wounded. These Russian missiles and attack drones today are a clear response to everyone in the world who, for weeks and months, has been calling for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy. Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” he said.

A fire broke out at a unit of the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region after a Ukrainian drone attack, local authorities said today.

It was not immediately clear what the extent of the damage was at the refinery.

The oil facility, together with the Krasnodar refinery, according to industry sources, processed 7.2 million metric tons of crude oil in 2024 and 3 million tons in January-June 2025.

The death toll in a mass Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv has risen to four, local officials said.

Among the dead were two children, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said, citing preliminary information. The numbers are expected to rise. Rescue teams were on site to pull people trapped underneath the rubble.

Thursday’s attack is the first major combined Russian mass drone and missile attack to strike Kyiv since US president Donald Trump met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier this month to discuss ending the three-year war in Ukraine.

The Kyiv city administration’s head Tymur Tkachenko said Russia launched decoy drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles in this attack, hitting at least 20 locations across seven districts of Kyiv.

Nearly 100 buildings were damaged, including a shopping mall in the city centre, and thousands of windows were shattered, he said.

A five-story residential building in the Darnytskyi district was hit directly. “Everything is destroyed,” Tkachenko said. A strike in central Kyiv left a major road strewn with shattered glass.

Russia has been accused of being “disrespectful” to the peace process in its war with Ukraine, with the Government saying it is dragging its feet over talks.

Downing Street said Vladimir Putin was blatantly stalling progress, less than a fortnight since the Russian president met with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with European leaders, met Mr Trump in Washington days after the Alaska meeting to get an update on the talks.

But as his remarks aired on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Russia’s top diplomat was making that prospect look unlikely — while walking back progress made between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky and a host of European leaders in a whirlwind series of meetings over the past two weeks.

Vance told NBC’s Kristen Welker, in a pre-taped interview, that both sides had signaled their openness to accepting “significant concessions” in recent days, and said that the president was open to increasing pressure if one side was seen as an obstacle to peace.

My colleague John Bowden reports:

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke to Ukraine’s newly appointed ambassador to the US.

“I just spoke with Olha Stefanishyna – now Ukraine’s new Ambassador to the United States. The formal procedures are complete – today I signed the decree appointing the ambassador,” Zelensky said on X.

“I outlined the key tasks for reinvigorating the work of our Embassy, and the main thing is to fully implement the agreements reached in Washington, our agreements with President Trump, above all in the defence sphere. Much of Ukraine’s long-term security depends on relations with America,” the Ukrainian president said.

He said that there are two “strong” Ukrainian proposals at the moment. “An agreement on weapons for Ukraine, and an agreement on modern drones for the United States. We count on swift progress in our relations,” he said.

The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, was in Riyadh yesterday along with security council chief Rustem Umerov.

Yermak said the talks in Riyadh focused on paths to peace in Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia’s participation in this process.

The senior Ukrainian officials met the Saudi defence minister and national security adviser, Yermak said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking later in his nightly video address, said the delegation would hold talks today in Switzerland. They will then go on to New York tomorrow for talks with US officials.

Earlier this week, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that he would meet representatives from Ukraine in New York while saying that Washington continues to talk with Russia.

Zelensky said on Tuesday that Turkey, the Gulf states or European countries could host talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin.