Mother and son killed in Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv

By Gleb Garanich and Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia launched an intense drone and missile attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, killing a mother and her son in the capital, amid faltering U.S.-backed attempts to broker a pause in the fighting.

Kamikaze drones continued to fly over Ukrainian territory at around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Wednesday, the air force said, more than nine hours after air raid sirens first sounded over the Kyiv region.

The escalation comes as Russia prepares to welcome world leaders to Moscow for the May 9 parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two.

Ukraine launched drones towards Moscow for a third day, forcing most of the Russian capital's airports to close hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping was due to arrive.

The Kremlin has touted his presence, along with that of 28 other world leaders, as a sign that Russia has not been isolated since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.

In Kyiv, warning sirens wailed in the early hours of Wednesday amid the rumble of air defences, and at least three districts were hit by falling debris from downed drones, Ukraine's emergency service said on the Telegram messaging app.

At one location, police loaded two bodies wrapped in white plastic sheets into a van. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram that a mother and her son had been killed.

EVACUATED IN NIGHT CLOTHES

At least seven people, including four children, were also injured in the attacks, Zelenskiy said, adding that Russia fired four ballistic missiles and 142 drones at Kyiv and five other regions.

In Kyiv, evacuated residents, some still in their night dress, waited outside damaged apartment blocks and watched as emergency workers tried to douse the flames and stop smoke billowing from burned out apartments.

"I know the people there, I have been trying to call them, they are not picking up," local resident Volodymyr Khortov, 66, said outside one of the damaged buildings. "God forbid."

In Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that Russian air defence units destroyed at least 14 Ukrainian drones after 10 p.m. on Tuesday (1900 GMT), with no damage reported.

Russia's aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said flights were halted at all four airports that serve Moscow for several hours overnight to ensure air safety for the third night in row.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be hosting the leaders of several nations at the parade, has called for a May 8-10 ceasefire in the war.

Zelenskiy called the measure pointless and offered an unconditional ceasefire over at least 30 days in line with a U.S. proposal launched in March.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Chris Reese, Michael Perry, Christian Schmollinger and Sharon Singleton)