Russian strikes hit Kyiv and nearby areas overnight ahead of another round of talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said Saturday. Ukrainian officials reported that one person was killed and eight others were wounded in the attack, which struck as temperatures in the capital fell to freezing.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that the Northern Bridge had been hit. He described the capital's situation with electricity, heating and water supplies as "extremely difficult." Overnight temperatures reached 0 degrees Celsius, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The Kyiv region's governor, Tymur Tkachenko, said energy facilities across three districts had come under attack.
Russia's Defense Ministry identified the Northern Bridge and the Meridian Plant as targets of its strikes. According to Moscow, Ukrainian forces used the bridge to move weapons and military equipment, while the plant produced Flamingo cruise missiles. These descriptions of the facilities' military uses came from the Russian ministry.
The ministry also reported damage to several energy and industrial sites in the Kyiv region. Its account included an electricity substation in the neighboring Zhytomyr region and a cargo vessel in the Black Sea among the facilities and objects damaged in the strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media statement that Russia had deployed 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles in the attack. He accused Moscow of seeking to cause a blackout in Kyiv and across Ukraine, and again called for greater support from the United States. Russia has intensified air attacks in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and major cities, with bridges also hit more recently.
The attacks took place days before a fourth round of trilateral negotiations scheduled in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier US-brokered meetings between Kyiv and Moscow have produced no breakthroughs. Disagreements over territory and security remain central obstacles in the talks.
Speaking Friday, US President Donald Trump suggested that a settlement to the war could be near. He said he envisioned a "big, beautiful agreement" with Moscow involving "all of Europe."
Separately, a six-day local ceasefire in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, enabled about 800 residents to be evacuated last Friday. US First Lady Melania Trump brokered that temporary truce.
