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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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At least seven people were killed overnight as Russia launched aerial attacks across Ukraine into Wednesday morning, according to the country's authorities.
The Context
The strikes came just hours after President Donald Trump said he did not want a "wasted meeting" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, pivoting away from the face-to-face summit with the Kremlin chief he announced last week. A White House official said there were no plans for a meeting in the "immediate future" as Moscow appeared unwilling to move on its position in ceasefire or peace talks.
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Russia's inflexibility has increasingly angered Trump, jeopardizing his pledge to secure peace in Eastern Europe and end the full-scale war Moscow started when it invaded its neighbor in February 2022. While Trump has oscillated between warming up Washington's relations with Moscow and leveling threats at Putin, he has ultimately been reluctant to slap Russia with punishing sanctions that could force the country to negotiate or compromise on its demands.
A summit in Alaska between Putin and Trump in August failed to bring a peace deal any closer, and Russia has continued striking Ukraine despite pointed criticism from the U.S. president.
What To Know
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "ordinary cities were hit" as Moscow targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure overnight.
Two children were among the six people killed in the capital and broader Kyiv region, and rescuers were searching for survivors and clearing rubble on Wednesday morning, according to officials. A "young mother with her two small children" had been killed, Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiha said.
Vitaly Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said 19 people had been injured in the city, nine of whom were hospitalized.
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Authorities in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, said Russia had targeted a kindergarten killing a utility worker close to the site and injuring seven other people.
Ukraine's state emergency service said people had also been injured in the southern Zaporizhzia region and in Poltava, in central Ukraine.
Ihor Klymenko, the country's interior minister, said "more than a dozen" Ukrainian regions had been attacked with a mixture of drones and missiles.
Russia had "massively attacked the energy infrastructure in several regions," Ukraine's energy ministry said in a statement. Moscow has frequently attacked Ukraine's critical infrastructure, particularly in the run-up to the austere winter months.
Russia would likely have escalated its attacks on Ukraine regardless of the Trump meeting, said Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee.
"His goal is to destroy our critical infrastructure during autumn and winter," Merezhko told Newsweek, to make Ukraine "more submissive."
Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement it had launched a "massive strike" on Ukrainian energy sites with long-range weapons, including hypersonic missiles.
"All designated objects were hit," Moscow said.
Several fires broke out at energy and port facilities in the southern city of Izmail, in Ukraine's Odesa region, emergency services said. Moscow has regularly targeted Izmail, a major export hub close to the border with NATO member Romania.
"The enemy has once again inflicted a massive blow on the civilian infrastructure of the Odesa region," but no one was injured, regional governor Oleh Kiper said in a post to Telegram.
Separately, Ukraine said late on Tuesday it had used British Storm Shadow missiles to carry out a "massive" combined strike on a major chemical plant in the Russian border region of Bryansk. The facility produces gunpowder and explosives for Russian military stocks, Kyiv's military said.
What People Are Saying
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday: "Another night that proves that Russia does not feel enough pressure for prolonging the war. Our air defense forces, mobile fire groups, and drone interceptor crews worked all night and morning."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on Wednesday: "Instead of diplomacy and peace negotiations, Russia continues its brutal strikes against Ukraine."
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