Zelensky gives a “stern” warning after Putin’s “sickening” Christmas attacks ahead of Trump talks.
One person was killed and 27 people, including two children, are said to have been killed when the Kremlin targeted Kyiv with missiles and drones on residential buildings.
Volodymyr Zelensky has hit out at Russia after it attacked war-torn Ukraine ahead of crucial peace talks with Donald Trump.
One person has been killed and 27 others, including two children, are said to have been killed after the Kremlin targeted Kyiv with missiles and drones. The attack came ahead of the Ukrainian leader’s meeting with the US president on Sunday to end the conflict as its fourth anniversary approaches.
Writing on social media on Saturday morning, Zelenskyy asked,
“Many questions have been raised over the past few days – so where is Russia’s response to the proposals to end the war put forward by the United States and the world?”
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Zelensky asked, ‘…Where is Russia’s response to the proposals to end the war put forward by the United States and the world?’ (Image: AP)
He said, “Russian representatives continue to engage in lengthy negotiations, but in reality, the Kinzels and the ‘martyrs’ speak for them.
This is the true attitude of Putin and his inner circle. They do not want to end the war.
But they want to use every opportunity to inflict even more suffering on Ukraine and increase their pressure on others around the world. And this means that the pressure in response is still insufficient.
If Russia transforms the Christmas and New Year period into a time of destroyed houses, burnt apartments, and ruined power plants, then such destructive actions can only be met with truly strong responses.
The United States possesses this capability. Europe also possesses this capability. Many of our partners have this capability. The key is to use it.”
There were several hours of explosions in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday morning due to the attack of ballistic missiles and drones, which continued until daybreak.
In his social media post, Zelensky reported,
“Another Russian attack is still ongoing: since last night, about 500 drones—a large number of ‘martyrs’—have arrived, as well as 40 missiles, including Kinzhal.
“The primary target is Kyiv – energy facilities and civilian infrastructure. Sadly, there have been attacks there, and normal residential buildings have been damaged.
. In some districts of the capital and the region, electricity and heating are currently unavailable. Firefighting efforts are ongoing.”
According to Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko, more than 10 residential buildings were damaged in the attack. The attack took place at seven locations in downtown Kyiv.
injured two children, according to Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration. A body was found under the debris of a damaged building, Klimenko said.
The attack came ahead of the Ukrainian leader’s meeting with the US president on Sunday to end the conflict as its fourth anniversary approaches. (Image: AFP via Getty Images) )
A fire broke out in an 18-storey residential building in the city’s Dnipro district, and emergency teams rushed to the scene to control the flames
. And a 24-storey residential building in the Darnitsa district was also affected, Tkachenko said, with more fires breaking out in the Obolonsky and Holosiivsky districts.
In the wider Kyiv area, the attacks hit industrial and residential buildings, according to the Emergency Service of Ukraine.
In the Vyshhorod area, emergency workers rescued a man found under the debris of a destroyed house.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday that it carried out a “large-scale attack” overnight on “energy infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian armed forces” as well as “Ukrainian military installations.”
industrial complex enterprises” using “long-range precision-guided munitions from land, air, and sea,
including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles and drones. The ministry said the attack occurred in response to Ukraine’s attacks on “civilian objects” in Russia.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on December 27, 2025. (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images) )
Earlier on Saturday, the ministry said its air defences shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight in the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygea.
Poland deployed fighter planes during the Russian attacks and closed airports in Lublin and Rzeszow, near the border with Ukraine, for several hours.
the country’s armed forces command said. It said there was no violation of Polish airspace.
Civil aviation authority Pansa said both airports had resumed operations.
When the Russian attacks targeted Kyiv, located far across the border, it was unclear what triggered the alert in Poland. Zelenskyy previously said he would meet with Trump in Florida over the weekend.
He told reporters that the 20-point plan under discussion was “about 90% ready.”. An “economic agreement” would also be discussed, he said, but he was unable to confirm whether “anything” would be finalised by the end.
The Ukrainian side will also raise “regional issues”, he said. The announced meeting is the latest development in a broader US-led diplomatic effort to end the war.
seeking to address sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv. After illegally annexing Crimea in 2014, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
