Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha has linked overnight attack on his country to Donald Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping, saying that Russia’s assault proved it posed a threat to international security.
Ukrainian officials said the attack was Russia’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s rare trip to China to talk with its leader, Xi Jinping.
Sybiha said on social media, “At the very time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in Beijing, and the world hopes for peace, predictability and cooperation, Putin launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of Ukraine.”
“This barbaric attack during such an important summit shows that the Russian regime poses a global threat to international security. Instead of peace and development, Moscow pursues aggression and terror.”
Andrii Sybiha
He asserted that Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin wants the war to continue “in order to prolong his control and rule over Russia.” “There should be no illusions or wishful thinking: only pressure on Moscow can force him to stop,” he added.
Sybiha’s statement came as Russia targeted Ukraine’s capital with a mass drone and missile attack early Thursday morning that killed at least one and injured 33 people.
Ukraine’s Air Force said that its air defenses shot down or jammed 693 targets overnight, including 41 missiles and 652 drones of various types across the country. It added that fifteen missiles and 23 drones scored direct hits across 24 locations. Debris from downed drones fell across an additional 18 locations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed that ballistic and cruise missiles were used in the mass attack. “These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end,” he said, urging partners not to stay silent and calling for continued support for Ukraine’s air defenses. He said that Russia has used more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian cities and communities since the start of Wednesday.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko also said that the attack struck civilian infrastructure and residential buildings across multiple cities, with Kyiv enduring the heaviest losses.
The attack, in which Kyiv was the primary target, came hours after a rare daytime mass drone barrage on Wednesday.
The rare daytime attack on Kyiv killed at least six people, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The assault, which involved 800 drones, struck about 20 regions of Ukraine and was among the longest such attacks during the war.
Zelenskyy said the attack that lasted hours on Wednesday aimed to cause as much “pain and grief” as possible. The attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he believes Moscow and Kyiv will soon reach a deal to end fighting. Putin said in a speech last weekend that his invasion of Ukraine is possibly “coming to an end.”
According to Head of Kyiv’s Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, damage was recorded across six districts of the capital as a result of the overnight attack. He warned that Russia was attacking the city with ballistic missiles and drones.
The cities of Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa also were targeted in the attack, which involved both ballistic and cruise missiles. In the Darnytsia district of Kyiv, a multistory residential building partially collapsed, burying people under the rubble. At least 27 people were rescued from the rubble, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 18 apartments were destroyed. He added that there were problems with water supply on the left bank of Kyiv as a result of the attack.
Emergency operations also were ongoing in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi districts of Kyiv, the service said.In the Dnieper district, a drone hit the roof of a five-story residential building. Another building in the Dniprovskyi district was also damaged.
US, China Deemed To Have Leverage To Compel Russia To End War
Moreover, Sybiha noted in his statement that U.S. and Chinese leaders had sufficient leverage to compel Russia to end the war.
“I am certain that the leaders of the United States and China have enough leverage over Moscow to tell Putin to finally end the war. And this would be the greatest positive development.”
Andrii Sybiha
Neither Putin or Trump have provided details about what has changed to make a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine conflict possible. Moscow and Kyiv maintain mutually exclusive demands.
U.S.-led diplomatic efforts over the past year to end the war have fizzled after making no progress on key issues, such as whether Russia gets to keep Ukrainian land it has seized and what can be done to deter Moscow from invading again.
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