Kiev [Ukraine], April 25: A combined Russian missile and drone attack on Kiev killed at least nine people and injured at least 70, Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday, prompting US President Donald Trump to tell Russian leader Vladimir Putin to "STOP!" "Vladimir, STOP!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, one day after he sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his refusal to accept the Russian occupation of Crimea and accused him of prolonging the war.
"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing," the US president wrote, calling for a peace deal to be concluded.
The attack came after Trump called for Russia to keep Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014 - a proposal Zelensky immediately rejected.
In Kiev, more victims were believed to be trapped under the rubble as rescue efforts continued. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko told the UNIAN news agency that phones could still be heard ringing from the rubble. "The search will continue until we are sure we have everyone," he promised. Rescue teams were still searching for two missing children, he added.
During the night, the Russian military carried out a massive airstrike on its neighbour. According to Ukrainian authorities, drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles were used.
There were strikes in several locations in Kiev, with the district of Svyatoshyn in the north-west of the capital the worst affected.
Several high-rise buildings were damaged, and garages and a large number of cars were destroyed.
Casualties and damage were reported in nine regions across the country. In addition to Kiev, the regions of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya and Zhytomyr were among those affected. In the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhya, a firefighter was injured while on duty when the Russians launched a second wave of attacks.
In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday accused Zelensky of being wholly incapable of brokering an end to the war, while backing Trump's insistence that Kiev must accept the loss of Crimea to reach a settlement.
Zakharova accused Zelensky of only wanting to conduct negotiations on his own terms.
"This schizophrenic approach shows Kiev's absolute inability to negotiate and its irresponsibility, which is striving to continue the slaughter to the last Ukrainian regardless of the victims," she said.
"Zelensky has categorically rejected any concessions and declared that he does not legally recognize the incorporation of Crimea into Russia [in 2014]," continued Zakharova.
The Kremlin praised Trump for his lecture to Zelensky that Ukraine has already lost the Black Sea peninsula, which was seized in a Russian military operation a decade ago before the outbreak of separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine.
According to Russian news agencies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Trump's position was fully in line with Moscow's. Zakharova and Peskov said that Russia would continue its talks with the US side on a solution to the Ukraine conflict.
Russia is also expecting US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff for another visit, although Peskov did not specify a date.
Source: Qatar Tribune
