Russia strikes Ukraine’s capital and kills at least 1 person a day before Zelenskyy-Trump meeting
Russia strikes Ukraine’s capital and kills at least 1 person a day before Zelenskyy-Trump meeting
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Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones early Saturday morning, wounding at least 11 people a day before talks between Ukraine and the U.S., local authorities said.
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Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones early Saturday morning, a day before talks between Ukraine and the U.S., authorities said. A video filmed on Saturday appears to show a drone hitting the top of a building in Kyiv.
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The attack began in the early morning hours Saturday and was continuing as day broke. The attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for further talks in an effort to end the nearly 4-year-old war. (AP video by Vasilisa Stepanenko and Volodymyr Yurchuk)Read More
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It comes as Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 27.
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Rescuers carry the body of a victim after Russian drone hit a multi-storey apartment building during a massive missile and drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hold a news conference in Halifax, N.S. on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025.(Riley Smith /The Canadian Press via AP)
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A psychologist of a rescue team helps en elderly woman at the hospice which was damaged after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
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Rescue workers clear the rubble at the roof of apartment building damaged after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
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A rescue worker puts out a fire of a house destroyed after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
By SAMYA KULLAB and VASILISA STEPANENKOUpdated 1:59 PM MST, December 27, 2025
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with ballistic missiles and drones on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 27, a day before talks between the leaders of Ukraine and the United States, authorities said.
Explosions boomed across Kyiv as the attack began in early morning and continued for hours.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for further talks on ending the nearly four-year war. Zelenskyy told reporters that he and Trump plan to discuss several matters including security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
“This attack is Russia’s answer on our peace efforts. It really shows that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin doesn’t want peace,” Zelenskyy said after stopping in Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Carney announced $1.8 billion worth of economic assistance to Ukraine that helps unlock financing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for reconstruction and development.
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AP AUDIO: Russia strikes Ukraine’s capital and kills at least 1 person a day before Zelenskyy-Trump meeting
AP correspondent Julie Walker reports Russia attacks Kyiv, killing one and wounding several others ahead of Ukraine-US talks.
“The barbarism that we saw overnight, the attack of Kyiv, shows just how important that we stand with Ukraine during this difficult time,” Carney said.
Apartment buildings hit
The Russian Defense Ministry said that it carried out a “massive strike” overnight, using “long-range precision-guided weapons from land, air and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles” and drones. It said it targeted energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukraine’s forces and military-industrial enterprises.
But several residential buildings were struck.
The ministry said the strike was in response to Ukraine’s attacks on “civilian objects” in Russia.
Earlier on Saturday, the ministry said air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian drones over the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygeya overnight. On Saturday afternoon, the ministry said 147 more drones were shot down over a number of Russian regions.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses intercepted more than 20 drones “flying towards” the Russian capital on Saturday. He didn’t report any damage or casualties. It wasn’t immediately clear whether those were included in the Defense Ministry’s count.
Russia claims territorial gains
In what could be viewed as an effort to further ramp up pressure on Ukraine before the Zelenskyy-Trump talks, the Kremlin on Saturday night released a video of Putin in military fatigues receiving reports from top military officials in an unidentified military command post.
Russia’s General Staff chief, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, reported to Putin that the Russian troops have taken full control of Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region — Russia uses the old Soviet name of the city, Dimitrov — the city of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, and a few other settlements.
Putin said that ”if Kyiv authorities are not willing to end the matter peacefully, we will achieve all the goals we have in the special military operation by military means.”
Ukraine’s General Staff rejected these claims as “not supported by facts.” It said that the situation in Huliaipole is “difficult, but the defensive operation in the city is ongoing.” In Myrnohrad, the situation remains “challenging.”
“The senior political leadership of the aggressor state has once again resorted to spreading false claims about significant ‘successes’ by the Russian army on the battlefield,” the General Staff said in an online statement.
