Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump says no Putin meeting until peace deal is within reach – UK Times

Four children were among 14 people injured in Russia’s overnight air attack on Kyiv, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital said this morning.

“Everyone is receiving medical assistance, some have been hospitalised,” the administration said on Telegram.

Two high-rise residential buildings were hit as a result of the attack, mayor Vitali Klitschko said earlier.

He did not say whether there was a direct hit on the buildings or if it was falling debris from destroyed weapons that fell onto the apartment complexes.

Ukrainian forces operating behind enemy lines derailed Russia’s hopes of reconnecting the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station before Vladimir Putin’s birthday earlier this month, sources have claimed.

Ukrainian sources told The Guardian that they believed Russia was trying to bring power back to the plant in time for the president’s birthday on 7 October, after it lost external power in late September.

Europe’s largest power station, which has been in Russian control since early in the invasion, was forced to operate on diesel backup generators after its last remaining external power line was severed on 23 September. Russia and Ukraine blamed each other.

Russian air defence systems destroyed a drone heading towards Moscow, the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, said this morning.

Kirill Dmitriev, Mr Putin’s envoy for investment and economic co-operation, said on Friday that Russia, the US and Ukraine were “quite close to a diplomatic solution” to end the three-year war.

Speaking to CNN after arriving in Washington for talks with US officials, he said a planned summit in Budapest between Mr Trump and Mr Putin had not been cancelled but was likely to occur later.

Mr Trump said on Tuesday that his plan for a swift meeting with Mr Putin was on hold because he did not want it to be a “waste of time”.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov made clear in public comments on Tuesday that Russia is opposed to an immediate ceasefire.

Large clouds of smoke were seen over Kyiv on Saturday morning as firefighters raced to put out fires across the city.

As of midday, they had localized one fire in a 13,000 square metre (140,000 sq. ft) warehouse with the help of two helicopters, and had put out a fire in another building.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks highlighted the importance of Patriot air defence systems in protecting Ukrainian cities from Russia’s continuous attacks.

“Since the beginning of this year alone, Russia has launched about 770 ballistic missiles and more than 50 ‘Kinzhal’ missiles at Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

The Patriot systems have proven effective at destroying Russian ballistic missiles and Ukraine is currently seeking a contract to buy 25 Patriot air defence systems from the U.S.

Ukraine’s air force downed four of nine missiles and 50 of 62 drones launched in the overnight attacks, it said on Telegram.

The air force reported five direct missile hits and 12 drone hits on 11 sites around the country.