Massive Russian Air Assault Hits Ukraine as Zelenskiy Prepares for High-Stakes Talks with Trump
KYIV, Dec 27: Russia launched one of its largest combined air assaults on Ukraine in recent months, firing hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Kyiv and other regions just days before a pivotal meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at ending the nearly four-year war.
Ukrainian authorities said the overnight and morning-long attack involved around 500 drones and more than 40 missiles, crippling power and heating supplies across large parts of the capital. A prolonged air raid alert lasting nearly 10 hours was lifted only late Saturday morning.
At least one person was killed in the Kyiv region, while 19 others, including two children, were wounded in the capital, officials said. Emergency services were still searching for a resident believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of a damaged apartment building.
President Zelenskiy described the strikes as Moscow’s response to ongoing peace efforts led by Washington. In a post on social media platform X, he accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians during the holiday season and urged the United States and Europe to step up pressure on the Kremlin.
“If Russia turns Christmas and New Year into a time of destroyed homes, burned apartments, and ruined power plants, then this can only be answered with truly strong measures,” he said.
Explosions were heard across Kyiv from the early pre-dawn hours as air defense systems intercepted incoming threats. Ukrainian officials confirmed damage in seven districts of the capital, with at least three high-rise residential buildings catching fire.
State energy operator Ukrenergo said Russian strikes hit energy infrastructure nationwide, including facilities in and around Kyiv, prompting emergency power outages. Ukraine’s foreign minister said roughly one-third of the capital was left without heating as temperatures hovered around freezing.
In the surrounding Kyiv region, authorities reported that about 320,000 households lost electricity. The attacks also had regional repercussions, with Poland temporarily closing Rzeszow and Lublin airports after scrambling fighter jets in response to the strikes near its eastern border.
The escalation comes ahead of a meeting scheduled for Sunday in Florida between Zelenskyy and Trump, which the Ukrainian leader has described as critical to shaping a potential peace settlement. Zelenskiy said discussions would focus heavily on territorial control once fighting ends, the most contentious issue in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.
He revealed that a U.S.-backed 20-point peace framework is about 90% complete and that negotiations on a bilateral security guarantee agreement with Washington are nearing conclusion. Trump, however, said any deal would ultimately require his approval, underscoring the high stakes of the talks.
Alongside territorial disputes, control of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and proposals for a potential free economic zone in parts of eastern Ukraine remain unresolved. Kyiv insists on halting the war along current front lines, while Moscow continues to demand Ukrainian withdrawals from contested regions.
Despite sharply differing positions, Russian officials signaled cautious optimism that negotiations have reached a turning point, even as the fighting intensifies. Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, warned that sustained military pressure from Moscow threatens to undermine diplomatic efforts at a critical moment.