Russia hammers Kyiv as Zelenskyy heads to US for Trump talks

Moscow launched one of its heaviest air assaults on Kyiv in recent weeks overnight, just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepares to travel to the United States for high-stakes talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on a revised peace proposal.

The Russian barrage, involving nearly 500 drones and around 40 missiles, including Kinzhal hypersonic weapons, according to Ukrainian authorities, triggered air-raid sirens across the capital and left parts of Kyiv without electricity and heating amid freezing temperatures. 

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said at least one civilian was killed and more than 20 others were injured, with multiple residential buildings damaged and rescue teams searching for people trapped under rubble.

The attack reverberated across Europe’s eastern flank. 

Poland scrambled fighter jets and placed its air defense systems on heightened alert as a precautionary measure, citing Russian long-range aviation activity targeting Ukraine. Poland’s Operational Command said on X that military aviation operations were launched to protect Polish airspace, adding later that no violations had been detected and the alert was subsequently lifted.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the strikes by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces underscored the gap between diplomatic efforts and Moscow’s actions on the ground. “Contrary to President Trump’s expectations and despite the readiness to make compromises by Zelenskyy, Russia attacked again Kyiv’s residential districts,” Tusk wrote on X on Saturday. 

Tusk added that he would speak later Saturday with leaders from Ukraine, Germany, France, the U.K., Italy and the European Union about “the chances for peace.”

The overnight air strikes came as Zelenskyy makes his way to North America, stopping in Canada on Saturday before traveling on to Florida for talks with Trump on Sunday. Zelenskyy told reporters that he and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “plan to speak online with European leaders, go over all the issues, provide updates, and exchange the details of the documents I will be discussing with the U.S. president.”

Zelenskyy said the overnight attacks on Ukraine demonstrated why strong security guarantees are “our most important consideration” in discussing peace proposals. Territorial control of the Donbas region and management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are also important issues to be determined in the peace talks, he told journalists.

“Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals and ‘shaheds’ speak for them,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. “This is the true attitude of Putin and his inner circle. They do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering.”

The meeting with Trump in Florida is expected to focus on a newly revised 20-point Ukrainian peace plan, including proposals on security guarantees and territorial arrangements.

Trump has publicly framed the negotiations as contingent on his approval, injecting further uncertainty into diplomatic efforts as Russia continues its campaign of large-scale aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities. Speaking with POLITICO ahead of the meeting, Trump cast himself as the ultimate arbiter of any deal, saying Zelenskyy “doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” adding: “So we’ll see what he’s got.”

Veronika Melkozerova contributed to this report.