Russian strikes also hit several other regions across Ukraine.
Russia launched another wave of missile and drone strikes overnight across Ukraine, killing at least two people and wounding several others, as the war showed no signs of abating ahead of a high-level meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara.The latest attack came just one day after one of the deadliest Russian attacks on Kiev in recent months, which claimed the lives of 30 people. The renewed strikes highlight Moscow’s continuing pressure on Ukraine even as NATO leaders prepare to discuss military support, regional security and the future course of the war.Kyiv was among the main targets overnight. AFP journalists in the Ukrainian capital reported that they heard a powerful explosion even before the air raid sirens sounded, followed by at least four more explosions as Russia intensified its bombing.Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a missile strike set fire to warehouses in one area, while another attack sparked a fire in a non-residential building elsewhere in the city.The Ukrainian State Emergency Service later said that two people were injured in the capital.The heaviest loss of life was reported in the southern Mykolaiv region, where a mother and daughter were killed after Russian forces bombed with guided aerial bombs, according to regional military commander Vitaly Kim.
Two other people were injured in the same attack.Russian strikes also hit several other regions across Ukraine. Officials said that four people were injured in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region after attacks that used drones and artillery.In the Zaporizhia region in the southeast of the country, two more people were injured in another Russian raid, according to the head of the regional military administration.Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was also attacked, with city mayor Ihor Terekhov saying two people were injured.Ukraine continued to target Russian territory as well. In the Russian region of Saratov, Governor Roman Busargin said that one person was killed in an attack by a Ukrainian drone.The latest escalation comes ahead of a scheduled meeting between Trump and Zelensky on Wednesday, when the war is expected to dominate discussions alongside NATO’s broader security priorities.Zelensky has repeatedly urged Ukraine’s Western allies to provide more air defense systems and interceptor missiles, warning that the country suffers from a lack of equipment to confront Russia’s increasing use of ballistic missiles.While Ukraine has continued to intercept large numbers of Russian drones, officials say Moscow has increasingly relied on ballistic missile attacks against Kiev, putting additional pressure on the country’s already strained air defense network.