Russia hammers Ukraine’s capital ahead of Trump-Zelenskyy meeting

Zelenskyy accuses the Russian leadership of using ‘every opportunity’ to inflict ‘greater suffering’ on Ukraine.Published On 27 Dec 2025Russia has carried out drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on the eve of a key meeting between the United States and Ukrainian leaders, killing at least one person and leaving a third of the city without heat, according to local authorities.Russian ballistic missiles and drones rocked Kyiv from the early hours of Saturday morning, where an air alert was in place for nearly 10 hours.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Florida amid diplomatic push to end warlist 2 of 4Will the Russia-Ukraine war end in 2026?list 3 of 4Russia using Belarus territory to bypass Ukraine’s defences, says Zelenskyylist 4 of 4Ukraine accepts demilitarised zone to end Russia war, but do DMZs work?end of listThe attacks killed a 47-year-old woman and wounded at least 22 others, according to Kyiv’s mayor and regional governor. Among those wounded were two children, said the head of Kyiv’s City military administration, Tymur Tkachenko.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack was “still ongoing” as of 10:45am (08:45 GMT), with some 500 drones and 40 missiles launched targeting “energy facilities and civilian infrastructure”. The air raid alert for the capital ended at 11:20am local time (09:20 GMT).Municipal employees and firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit during Russian missile and drone strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]In addition to the casualties, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said there was no heat in one-third of the capital, where temperatures hovered around freezing (0 ​degrees Celsius).Some 320,000 households also lost power in the broader Kyiv region, which surrounds the capital but does not include it, Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.Russian forces are “trying to cut off all Ukrainians from our critical resources just to freeze us”, Kyiv-based journalist Kristina Zelenyuk told Al Jazeera.