Russia launched a new wave of missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine early Saturday, injuring civilians and triggering air raid alerts just hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was set to engage U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at ending the nearly four-year war.
The bombardment came as Zelenskiy prepared for a high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida, which Ukrainian officials say could shape the contours of a potential ceasefire and broader peace framework. Zelenskiy has described the talks as critical to resolving the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Explosions were heard across Kyiv as air defense systems responded to incoming threats. Ukraine’s air force said Russian drones and missiles were targeting the capital as well as northeastern and southern regions of the country. As of 8 a.m. local time, air raid sirens were still sounding in Kyiv, according to Reuters witnesses.
Kyiv city authorities said at least eight people were wounded in the attack.
The strikes had immediate spillover effects beyond Ukraine’s borders. In neighboring Poland, authorities temporarily shut down airports in Rzeszow and Lublin after the Polish military scrambled fighter jets in response to heightened security risks, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency said in a post on X.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had intensified strikes on energy infrastructure and on the southern Odesa region, home to Ukraine’s main seaports, underscoring Moscow’s continued pressure on critical civilian assets.
Despite ongoing fighting, diplomatic momentum has been building around a possible peace plan. Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv that a U.S.-backed, 20-point draft proposal was roughly 90% complete, but warned that territorial control remains the central unresolved issue.
Before Saturday’s attacks, Zelenskiy said negotiations with Trump would focus on how land would be divided following a halt to hostilities. “Controlling territory is the main diplomatic stumbling block,” he said, signaling the difficulty of reconciling Kyiv’s demands with Russia’s occupation of large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Zelenskiy also said Ukraine and the United States were close to finalizing a bilateral security guarantee agreement, which he described as essential after previous assurances failed to deter Russian aggression.
“A lot can be decided before the New Year,” Zelenskiy wrote on social media.
Trump, speaking to Politico, emphasized Washington’s central role in the negotiations. “He doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” Trump said, referring to the draft deal. “So we’ll see what he’s got.”
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Ahead of their in-person meeting, Trump and Zelenskiy were scheduled to hold a call on Saturday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other European leaders, according to a commission spokesperson.
Zelenskiy told Axios that Washington had proposed a 15-year security guarantee arrangement, renewable after expiration. Kyiv, however, is pushing for a longer-term agreement with legally binding commitments to prevent future Russian attacks.
As diplomacy accelerates, Saturday’s strikes served as a reminder that the war remains active and volatile, even as negotiations edge closer to a possible breakthrough.
