Russia launches major Ukraine missile attack after US cuts off military aid

By Anastasiia Malenko, Olena Harmash and Tom Balmforth

KYIV (Reuters) -Russian forces damaged Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure overnight in their first major missile attack since the U.S. paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine, piling pressure on Kyiv as President Donald Trump seeks a swift end to the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, seeking to shore up Western support for his country after Trump's diplomatic pivot towards Moscow, called for a truce covering air and sea, though not ground troops - an idea first mooted by France.

"The first steps to establishing real peace should be forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app, responding to the overnight missile attack.

Ukraine's air force said Russia had fired a salvo of 67 missiles and 194 drones in the overnight attack, adding that it had shot down 34 of the missiles and 100 of the drones.

Regional officials from the northeastern city of Kharkiv to the western city of Ternopil reported damage to energy and other infrastructure. Eight people were injured in Kharkiv and two more, including a child, were hurt in Poltava, officials said.

"Russia continues its energy terror," Energy Minister German Galuschenko said. "Again energy and gas infrastructure in various regions of Ukraine has come under massive missile and drone fire."

Russia targets Ukrainian cities and towns far from the front lines every night with drones, but Friday's attack was the first large-scale assault since the suspension of the U.S. military aid and intelligence this week.

CRISIS IN RELATIONS

Ukraine's relations with the U.S., previously its most important ally, have plunged into crisis since Zelenskiy's acrimonious exchange with Trump in the Oval Office last Friday before the world's TV cameras.

Trump said afterwards that Zelenskiy - whom he had already branded a "dictator" - that the Ukrainian leader was an obstacle to his vision for bringing peace to Ukraine.

In a bid to patch things up, Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Kyiv was ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible and to work under Trump's leadership, calling the way things had gone in Washington "regrettable".

In a further sign of re-engagement with the U.S., Zelenskiy said late on Thursday he would travel to Saudi Arabia next Monday for a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ahead of talks there later in the week between U.S. and Ukrainian officials.

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has already held extensive talks with Russian officials, said he was in discussions with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end the three-year war and confirmed that a meeting was planned next week with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.

"Ukraine is ready to pursue the path to peace, and it is Ukraine that strives for peace from the very first second of this war. The task is to force Russia to stop the war," Zelenskiy said in his Telegram message on Friday.

It remains unclear whether Washington and Kyiv can bridge their different visions for ending the war. Kyiv has been pressing for robust security guarantees, but the United States has declined to commit, pointing to a potential critical minerals agreement that Trump believes would be enough.

On the battlefield, Ukraine is outnumbered and Russian forces are steadily advancing in the eastern Donetsk region and mounting major pressure on Ukrainian troops trying to hold territory in Russia's Kursk region.

ENERGY SECTOR TARGETED

Russia has pounded the Ukrainian power sector with missiles and drones throughout the war, knocking out about half the national electricity generating capacity and forcing rolling blackouts at various junctures in the war.

This year Russia has focused more on infrastructure for natural gas, which is used for heating and cooking and also by industrial enterprises.

"Production facilities that ensure gas production were damaged. Fortunately, there were no casualties," the Naftogaz energy company said.

Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK halted gas production at its facilities in the central Poltava region after sustaining significant damage in Friday's attack, it said.

The pause in U.S. military aid and intelligence may undermine Ukraine's air defences as it runs low on advanced missiles and struggles to track attacks as effectively, military analysts say.

(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Olena HarmashWriting by Tom BalmforthEditing by Gareth Jones)