A series of powerful explosions were heard in the early hours of Saturday morning in Kyiv, Ukraine, Reuters and AFP reported, citing local authorities. Air defense was activated in the city. The authorities warned of Russian missiles and drones even outside the Ukrainian capital.
“Explosions in the capital. Air defense activated. Stay in shelters,” mayor Vitalij Klitschko called on the city’s residents on the Telegram network. Similarly, Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, reported on the attack on Telegram.
According to an AFP journalist, the explosions began around 1:30 local time (0:30 CET), another series followed half an hour later. Almost three hours later, according to AFP, Kyiv’s air defenses were reactivated due to a drone approaching the city.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to go to Florida on Saturday for a Sunday meeting with his American counterpart Donald Trump, which will take place at 3:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. CET), according to the DPA agency. Zelenskyy wants to discuss the still unresolved issues of the peace plan with him.
Ukraine has been facing Russian aggression for almost four years. In last year’s election campaign, Trump promised to end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House. Despite repeated phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a personal meeting between the two presidents in Alaska in August, he has not yet succeeded. However, diplomatic efforts have escalated over the past month after the United States unveiled an initial draft of the peace plan, which critics described as strikingly pro-Russian. This week, Zelensky presented a revised version, which envisages, among other things, the freezing of the front on the current lines and the creation of demilitarized zones.
Russia currently occupies 19 percent of Ukraine’s territory and is slowly advancing from the east and south to the center of the country. Every week they announce the conquest of several new Ukrainian villages. On Friday, Moscow announced the capture of the village of Kosivtseve in the southeastern Zaporozhye region. writes Reuters.
