Russian attacks on Ukraine kill two, cause widespread damage

By Max Hunder and Olena Harmash

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles and hundreds of drones overnight, killing two people, wounding 15 and causing damage and fires in several parts of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday.

Explosions lit up the night sky and the high-pitched whine of drone engines reverberated through Kyiv in an attack that Ukraine's air force said involved the launch of 426 drones and 24 missiles, with 23 drones hitting their target across Ukraine.

"Russia's attacks are always against humanity: a kindergarten, residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure burned in Kyiv," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

Russian media said Ukraine had also carried out drone attacks, causing chaos at airports serving Moscow, where thousands of passengers waited in queues or slept on the ground after flights were cancelled or delayed.

Russia's defence ministry said it had downed 117 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 30 over the Moscow region.

The war in Ukraine shows no sign of abating nearly 3-1/2 years after Russia began its full-scale invasion, and efforts led by U.S. President Donald Trump have failed to secure a ceasefire.

Zelenskiy said on Saturday he wanted to accelerate the ceasefire negotiations and that Kyiv had proposed new talks next week.

In comments broadcast by Russian state television on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was ready to move towards a peace settlement but that Moscow's main objective remained to achieve its goals.

Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Putin and last week announced a wave of weapons supplies to Ukraine, including Patriot surface-to-air missile systems.

The European Union also approved more sanctions against Russia last week including measures aimed at dealing further blows to the Russian oil and energy industry.

"Only real pressure on Russia can stop this aggression," Zelenskiy said on Monday.

'UNBELIEVABLE WAR'

Putin has yet to accept a proposal from Trump for an unconditional ceasefire, which was quickly endorsed by Kyiv.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot underlined the need for more pressure on Russia after seeing some of the damage caused by Russian airstrikes while visiting Kyiv on Monday.

"This is why the massive package of sanctions we adopted at the European level last Thursday is welcome. It increases pressure on Vladimir Putin, increases the cost of this unbelievable war," he said.

Putin's conditions for peace include a legally binding pledge that NATO will not expand eastwards, Ukrainian neutrality and limits on its armed forces, and acceptance of Russia's territorial gains, sources told Reuters.

Zelenskiy has said Ukraine will never recognise Russia's sovereignty over regions it has occupied, and that Kyiv retains the sovereign right to decide whether it wants to join NATO.

In the latest attack on Kyiv, a central subway station, commercial property, shops, houses and a kindergarten were damaged, city officials said. Many people sheltered in underground stations.

Dazed Kyiv residents stood among shattered glass and scorched walls, surveying the damage after a drone hit the lower floors of an apartment building.

The mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk said his city in western Ukraine suffered its heaviest attack of the war. The state emergencies service said four people including a child had been hurt in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk.

The northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest, was hit by 12 strikes overnight and a civilian industrial facility caught fire, its mayor said.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash and Max Hunder, additional reporting by Valentyn Ogirenko; Editing by Stephen Coates, Himani Sarkar and Timothy Heritage)