Russia Strikes Ukraine's Capital, Kills at Least One Day Before Zelenskyy-Trump Meeting

ASSOCIATE PRESS, KYIV, DEC 28, 2025: Russia attacked Ukraine's capital with ballistic missiles and drones on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 27, a day before talks between the leaders of Ukraine and the United States, authorities said. Explosions boomed across Kyiv as the attack began in the early morning and continued for hours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to meet with US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for further talks on ending the nearly four-year war. Zelenskyy told reporters that he and Trump planned to discuss several matters, including security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

"This attack is Russia's answer to our peace efforts. It really shows that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does not want peace," Zelenskyy said after stopping in Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Carney announced USD 1.8 billion worth of economic assistance to Ukraine, which helps unlock financing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for reconstruction and development.

"The barbarism that we saw overnight, the attack on Kyiv, shows just how important it is that we stand with Ukraine during this difficult time," Carney said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it carried out a "massive strike" overnight, using "long-range precision-guided weapons from land, air, and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles" and drones. It said it targeted energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukraine's forces and military-industrial enterprises.

The ministry said the strike was in response to Ukraine's attacks on "civilian objects" in Russia. Earlier on Saturday, the ministry said air defences shot down seven Ukrainian drones over the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygeya overnight. On Saturday afternoon, the ministry said 147 more drones were shot down over a number of Russian regions.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences intercepted more than 20 drones "flying towards" the Russian capital on Saturday. He did not report any damage or casualties. It was not immediately clear whether those were included in the Defence Ministry's count.

In what could be viewed as an effort to further ramp up pressure on Ukraine before the Zelenskyy-Trump talks, the Kremlin on Saturday night released a video of Putin in military fatigues receiving reports from top military officials in an unidentified military command post.

Russia's General Staff chief, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, reported to Putin that Russian troops had taken full control of Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region (Russia uses the old Soviet name of the city, Dimitrov), the city of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, and a few other settlements. More than 10 residential buildings were damaged, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on social media.

Olena Karpenko, 52, said she heard a man as he burned to death. "His scream is still in my ears. I cannot believe it," she said, weeping. Karpenko said they heard an explosion at the nearby thermal power plant, followed by a stronger blast that shook the windows of her home. Then came the strike on her building. Two children were among those wounded in the attack, which hit seven locations across the capital, the head of the Kyiv Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on social media.

A body was found under the rubble of one damaged building, he said. It was not immediately clear if that person was the man who burned to death. A fire broke out in an 18-story residential building in the Dnipro district, and emergency crews rushed to contain the flames. A 24-story residential building in the Darnytsia district was also hit, Tkachenko said, and more fires broke out in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivsky districts.