Russian barrage on Kyiv kills one

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — A Russian drone and missile barrage on Kyiv and its suburbs Saturday killed one person, wounded two dozen and cut off heating and electricity for hundreds of thousands of people left in freezing temperatures.

An air alert lasted several hours after loud overnight explosions, some accompanied by bright flashes that turned the sky orange, according to Agence France-Presse reporters in Kyiv.

The attack killed a 47-year-old woman, Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.

“There are already 19 persons affected in the capital. Eleven persons have been hospitalized,” said Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. He added that 2,600 residential buildings and hundreds of kindergartens, schools and social buildings had lost heat.

“As of this morning, part of the left bank of the region remains without electricity. Currently, more than 320,000 consumers are without power,” Kalashnyk added.

The attack came ahead of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with United States (US) President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to discuss a proposed plan to end the fighting that has killed tens of thousands since 2022.

Russia accused Zelensky and his European Union backers on Friday of seeking to “torpedo” the US-brokered plan.

The latest plan is a 20-point proposal that would freeze the war on its current front line but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarized buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelensky this week.