Russia has killed at least 19 people including four children in a massive wave of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’s capital that has drawn international condemnation.
Sir Keir Starmer accused Vladimir Putin of “sabotaging hopes of peace” with the attacks that took place in the early hours of Thursday and saw more than 600 drones and over 30 missiles launched.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strike, the second largest attack since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, was Moscow’s answer to diplomatic efforts to end its war.
Moscow claimed it only hit military targets but the UK summoned the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Office in London to receive an official complaint after the British Council building in Kyiv was struck by a missile. The death toll from the overnight attacks continued to rise on Thursday with at least 38 more people wounded.
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“Putin is killing children and civilians and sabotaging hopes of peace. This bloodshed must end,” the British prime minister said.
The European Union commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, also threatened extending sanctions after an EU delegation building was hit. Germany, meanwhile, said it was investigating reports that Russian spy drones had been seen monitoring routes taken by arms supplies.
The attacks come amid silence from the White House over its collapsing plans for a ceasefire or peace summit between Putin and Mr Zelensky.
Keith Kellogg, the US envoy to Ukraine who was excluded from the recent summit between Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska, said only that the latest attacks by Moscow threatened the success of talks.
“The targets? Not soldiers and weapons but residential areas in Kyiv – blasting civilian trains, the EU & British mission council offices, and innocent civilians,” Mr Kellogg said on X. “These egregious attacks threaten the peace that @POTUS is pursuing.”
Thirteen different Ukrainian regions were hit during the Russian attack, while the Kremlin claimed that Moscow was still interested in peace talks. National grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities were hit, causing power cuts and Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, described it as one of the biggest attacks on the city in recent months.
Russia’s forces have made small incremental gains along Ukraine’s eastern front over the summer – at enormous cost in men. But Kyiv’s forces have been undermined by the removal of US support and dwindling supplies of manpower for battles more often known as a “meat grinder”.
“Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Mr Zelensky said on X, calling for new sanctions on Russia. “It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war.”
The latest attacks come less than two weeks after Mr Trump welcomed Putin in Anchorage for talks aimed at ending the three-year-old conflict. The talks ended without any peace deal or an agreement over Ukraine’s security. Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine.
In the aftermath of the summit, the US president urged Mr Zelensky and Putin to organise a meeting without him. But Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov later dismissed the suggestion, saying that the agenda for such a meeting was not ready.
Last Friday, Mr Trump said he would decide on the next steps in the next two weeks if no direct talks are scheduled.
Mr Zelensky said that he expected that a framework for security guarantees for Ukraine could be set out as soon as next week following “extensive” talks with his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan.
“National security advisors are now working on every specific component, and the entire framework will be set out on paper next week,” he said after the call.
Despite buildings used by the EU and the UK being damaged in the latest attacks there are no signs as yet that Europe will stop importing Russian fossil fuels.
Russia has been paid €260bn (£225bn) for EU oil and gas since 2022. The EU, Canada and the UK, have raised €250bn for Ukraine to fight Russia since then.
