14 dead in Russian strikes on Kyiv on eve of NATO summit
· RTE.ieRussia struck Ukraine's Kyiv region with ballistic missiles in the early hours of this morning, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more, authorities said, on the eve of a NATO summit in Turkey.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his allies to take "strong decisions" at the summit.
"It is critically important that the world - first and foremost the United States and our European partners -- come out of the NATO Summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defence," Mr Zelensky said on Facebook.
Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said rescue crews were pulling residents from buildings shattered by the overnight barrage.
Ukraine's air force said Russia had used 68 missiles, including 23 ballistic and six super and hypersonic missiles, as well as 351 drones in the attack. Air force units shot down or neutralised 37 missiles and 326 drones, but none of the ballistic missiles or super and hypersonic missiles, the air force data showed.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it is short of interceptors for its Patriot defence system, which are the only effective weapon to shot down incoming ballistic projectiles.
The attack came days after 31 people were killed in a Russian attack on the capital in the early hours of Thursday - the deadliest strike on the city this year.
At least 15 residential buildings had been damaged or destroyed in the attack, including a nine-storey block in the historic Podilskyi district which had been largely destroyed from the fifth level up, emergency services said.
Officials said four residential buildings had been struck in the Podilskyi district alone. That district, along with the eastern Darnytskyi, were at the epicenter of the strikes, the General Prosecutor's office said.
Damage was also recorded in two other city districts.
'Massive' attack
Russia conducted a "massive" attack on Ukraine's capital and other locations with long-range, high-precision air-, land-, sea-launched weapons and drones, the Russian defence ministry said.
The ministry also said military and energy facilities were hit in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, as well as military airfields in several other Ukrainian regions.
Another person was killed and a further 15 injured in the surrounding Kyiv region, and the southern Black Sea port of Odesa also came under attack with at least one person injured, local officials said.
US President Donald Trump and Mr Zelensky are expected to discuss the war on the sidelines of the NATO summit, which begins tomorrow.
After that, Mr Trump plans to speak with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as the US seeks to revive stalled peace efforts.
Reporters on the ground in Kyiv heard more than 10 explosions during a ballistic missile alert. Around 30 minutes later, several flashes were seen in the sky as another series of blasts rang out.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted energy facilities inside Russia in recent weeks in an effort to weaken the Kremlin's war effort.
It has also struck at Moscow-controlled territory in Ukraine that predates the current invasion.
In Russian-annexed Crimea, governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said a Ukrainian strike near Sevastopol had temporarily cut electricity supplies.
"Following an enemy attack on energy infrastructure near Sevastopol, our city was temporarily left without electricity," Mr Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram.
Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on state-backed Max that several waves of drones bound for the Russian capital were shot down by Russian air defences.
Diplomacy and fighting
The White House said Mr Trump would meet Mr Zelensky on Wednesday during the NATO summit.
"The president's obviously getting together with him to talk about how we can end the war. That's been a priority of his for a long time," a senior US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official said Mr Trump would then "follow up" with Mr Putin.
The meetings come with diplomatic efforts to end the war largely stalled.
Mr Zelensky said yesterday that Ukrainian troops were continuing to fight for the strategic eastern town of Kostyantynivka, a gateway to key positions in the Donetsk region.
Russia claimed on Friday to have captured the town, but Kyiv dismissed the announcement as "a lie".
"Fighting is also continuing for Kostyantynivka, which (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin has already claimed as his own, but it is obvious that he will never dare to appear there," Mr Zelensky said in a nightly address.
He also warned that Moscow was preparing fresh large-scale attacks ahead of the NATO summit.
Both Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky held separate phone calls with Mr Trump on Saturday to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.