Russia launches a major aerial attack on Kyiv hours before high-level talks on support for Ukraine

The Hindu

5 days ago

Russia unleashed one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent months, only hours before the U.K. and Germany chaired a meeting to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for NATO allies to provide Ukraine with weapons.
The attack killed two persons and wounded 15, including a 12-year-old, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
In Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi district, a drone struck the entrance to a subway station where people had taken cover. Videos posted on social media showed the station platform engulfed by smoke, with dozens of people inside. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said the station had to be ventilated in what he called an 'enhanced mode.'
The heaviest strikes hit Kyiv's Darnytskyi district, where a kindergarten, supermarket and warehouse facilities caught fire.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot arrived in Kyiv on Monday and visited some of the damage.
The hours-long drone and missile assault on Kyiv overnight into Monday underscored the urgency of Ukraine's need for further Western military aid, especially in air defence, a week after Mr. Trump said deliveries would arrive in Ukraine within days.
The virtual meeting of high-level military officials on Monday was led by British Defence Secretary John Healey and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius. U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and NATO leader Mark Rutte, as well as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, attended the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Moscow has intensified its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate as Russian drone production expands.
Ukraine's new Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal urged allies to speed up deliveries of American air defense systems under the plan put forward by Trump.
'I request the U.S. to make these weapons available for purchase, and our European partners to extend all the needed financing for their procurement,' Mr. Shmyhal, who until recently served as Prime Minister, said as the meeting began.
Mr. Trump's arms plan, announced a week ago, involves European nations sending American weapons, including Patriot air defence missile systems, to Ukraine via NATO — either from existing stockpiles or buying and donating new ones.
In an shift of tone toward Russia, Mr. Trump last week gave Moscow a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions.
At Monday's meeting, Healey was expected to urge Ukraine's Western partners to launch a '50-day drive' to get Kyiv the weapons it needs to fight Russia's bigger army and force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, the U.K. government said in a statement.
NATO's Grynkewich said on Thursday that 'preparations are underway' for weapons transfers to Ukraine while U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said he couldn't give a time frame.
Germany has said it offered to finance two new Patriot systems for Ukraine and raised the possibility of supplying systems it already owns and having them replaced by the U.S.
But delivery could take time, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested, because 'they have to be transported, they have to be set up; that is not a question of hours, it is a question of days, perhaps weeks."
Other Patriot systems could come thanks to Switzerland, whose defense ministry said Thursday it was informed by the U.S. Defense Department that it will 'reprioritize the delivery" of five previously ordered systems to support Ukraine.
While Ukraine waits for Patriots, a senior NATO official said the alliance is still coordinating the delivery of other military aid — such as ammunition and artillery rounds — which includes aid from the U.S. that was briefly paused. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Zelenskyy said Saturday that his officials have proposed a new round of peace talks this week. Russian state media on Sunday reported that no date has yet been set for the negotiations, but said that Istanbul would likely remain the host city. The Kremlin spokesman said Sunday that Russia is open to peace with Ukraine, but achieving its goals remains a priority.
The overnight Russian barrage of Kyiv began shortly after midnight and continued until around 6 a.m. Residents of the capital were kept awake by machine-gun fire, buzzing drone engines and multiple loud explosions.
It was the first major attack on Kyiv since Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, arrived in the city last Monday. Russia halted strikes on Kyiv during his visit.
Russia's Ministry of Defense said its attack used drones and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. It said that the barrage successfully targeted airfield infrastructure and Ukraine's military-industrial complex.
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 426 Shahed and decoy drones overnight Monday, as well as 24 missiles of various types. It said 200 drones were intercepted with 203 more jammed or lost from radars.
Ukraine, meanwhile, continued to deploy its domestically produced long-range drones. Russia's Ministry of Defense said that its forces shot down 74 Ukrainian drones overnight, with almost a third of them destroyed close to the Russian capital. Twenty-three drones were shot down in the Moscow region, the ministry said, 15 of which were intercepted over the city itself.