Renewed Strikes on Kyiv and Moscow Precede NATO Summit in Ankara
A series of explosions rocked Kyiv early on Wednesday as Russia continued its barrage of attacks on the Ukrainian capital, according to Agence France-Presse journalists in the city. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that warehouses were on fire in one district due to a missile strike and that a non-residential building was ablaze in another.
The latest onslaught follows Russian strikes on Monday that killed at least eight people in the Kyiv region and wounded dozens, according to authorities. The assault was the second on the capital and its outskirts in less than a week, underlining the escalating long-range attacks from both sides in the conflict that has persisted for more than four years.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Ankara for the NATO summit, urged Kyiv's backers on Tuesday to step up assistance for the country's air defences, which have struggled with shortages of interceptors needed to shoot down Russian missiles.
Meanwhile, Moscow's mayor said Ukraine launched more than 430 drones towards the Russian capital overnight. One person was killed in a Ukrainian strike in Russia's Belgorod region, as reported by the region's governor.
The heightened hostilities come as NATO leaders gather in Ankara for a summit, where they are set to announce tens of billions of dollars in defence deals. US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky are expected to discuss the war on the sidelines of the summit, which begins Tuesday.
The recent attacks have highlighted the growing reach of the conflict, with both sides intensifying their long-range strikes. In Russian-annexed Crimea, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said a Ukrainian strike near Sevastopol had temporarily cut electricity supplies, while Moscow's mayor reported that several waves of drones were shot down by Russian air defences.
Zelensky has also called for Ukraine to be granted US licences to manufacture Patriot missile systems, saying it was "absurd" that production could not meet demand, as Ukraine seeks to strengthen its defensive capabilities against Russian ballistic missiles.