‘Russia’s idea of peace’: Drone and missile barrage on Kyiv kills at least 21 people

London: European leaders have condemned a Russian missile and drone assault that has killed at least four children in Kyiv and mobilised 1000 police to rescue civilians, intensifying calls for more forceful US and NATO action against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The mass strike killed at least 21 people, including the children, and damaged the European Union diplomatic offices in Kyiv, spurring EU leaders to warn that Russia had chosen to “mock the peace efforts” of recent weeks. At least 48 people were also wounded.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen spoke to US President Donald Trump after the attack and is preparing to visit EU member states that share borders with Russia and Belarus.

The attack was the first of its scale on the Ukrainian capital in several weeks, although Russia has kept up its attacks on other cities when Trump has talked of a peace deal at a summit with Putin in Alaska and meeting with NATO leaders in Washington, DC.

The EU commissioner for foreign affairs, Kaja Kallas, confirmed the damage to the EU delegation in Kyiv and signalled the frustration in Europe that Putin was not under more pressure to agree to a ceasefire.

“The overnight attack on Kyiv shows a deliberate choice to escalate and mock the peace efforts,” she said.

“Russia must stop the killing and negotiate.”

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the strikes damaged the British Council building in Kyiv.

“Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace. This bloodshed must end,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Russia had deliberately targeted residential areas with some of the 629 missiles and drones during the night.

“This is Russia’s idea of peace. Terror and barbarism,” he said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday said that it was “clear that a meeting between President Zelensky and President Putin will not take place”.

The European response heightens the debate about the next steps in the White House to apply pressure on Putin, including economic sanctions and higher tariffs.

Trump is yet to comment publicly, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticised both Putin and Zelensky after the attack on Kyiv. She said Trump “was not happy about this news, but he was also not surprised” by Russia’s air assault.

“Perhaps both sides of this war are not ready to end it themselves,” Leavitt said. “The president wants it to end, but the leaders of these two countries … must want it to end as well.”

The US State Department also approved a potential sale of air-launched cruise missiles and related equipment to Ukraine for an estimated $US825 million ($1.26 billion), the Pentagon said on Thursday.

The potential sale is being funded under the Jump Start program by Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands, with additional funding via the US Foreign Military Financing program, a person familiar with the deal said. The package also includes support equipment, mission planning software, spares, and technical support, the Pentagon said.

The Trump administration applied 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports to the US on Wednesday, in an attempt to dissuade India from buying Russian oil, but it is yet to decide on similar measures against China, which also buys Russian oil, or broader sanctions against Putin and his government.

Peter Navarro, a top Trump trade adviser, accused India of fuelling the Russian war in Ukraine, branding the conflict as “[Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi’s war”, the London Telegraph reported.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the overnight attacks had brought 500 rescue workers and 1000 police officers onto the streets to engage in rescue efforts.

Among the dead were three children aged two, 14 and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. The numbers are expected to rise.

Russia launched decoy drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, Tkachenko said, hitting at least 20 locations across seven districts. One hundred buildings were damaged, including a central shopping mall, and thousands of windows were shattered.

The Ukrainian Air Force said the overnight barrage consisted of 598 drones and 31 missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked European leaders for their support but called for greater international pressure to ensure Russia agreed to a peace deal.

“The Russians are not choosing to end the war, only new strikes,” he said.

“It is crucial now that the world responds firmly. Russia must stop this war it started and continues. For the spurning of ceasefire and for the constant Russian attempts to weasel out of negotiations, new strong sanctions are needed. Only this can work.

“The Russians understand only strength and pressure. For every strike, Moscow must feel the consequences.”

Smoke billowed from a five-storey residential building in the Darnytskyi district of the Ukrainian capital, which suffered a direct hit.

Amid the destruction, emergency responders searched for survivors and pulled out bodies. Crowds of residents stood nearby, waiting for relatives to be retrieved from the rubble. Among them was a man still waiting for information about his wife and son.

Bodies in black bags were placed to the side of the building.

Residents said it was not the first time their district was targeted. Oleksandr Khilko arrived at the scene after a missile hit the building where his sister lives. He heard screams from people who were trapped under the rubble and pulled out three survivors, including a boy.

“It’s inhuman, striking civilians,” he said, his clothes covered in dust and the tips of his fingers black with soot. “With every cell of my body I want this war to end as soon as possible. I wait, but every time the air raid alarm sounds, I am afraid.”

Ukraine’s national railway operator also reported damage to its infrastructure in the Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, causing delays and requiring trains to use alternative routes.

Meanwhile, Ukraine struck Russia’s Afipsky oil refinery in Krasnodar region and Kuybyshevskyi oil refinery in Samara region overnight, the commander of Ukrainian drone forces said.

Fuel stations have run dry in some regions of Russia following recent Ukrainian attacks on refineries and other oil infrastructure, with motorists waiting in long lines and officials resorting to rationing or cutting off sales altogether.

Russian media outlets reported that fuel shortages are hitting consumers in several regions in the Far East and on the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine 2014.

The attacks came as the recent diplomatic push to end the war appeared to have stalled. Few details have emerged of next steps to follow US President Donald Trump’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

‘All deadlines have been broken’

Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine. This week, Ukrainian military leaders conceded Russian forces have broken into an eighth region, seeking to capture more ground.

Trump said last Friday that he expected to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks between Putin and Zelensky were not scheduled.

With AP

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