Zelensky: Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and its region overnight

Russia launched 36 ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and its surrounding region overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. He argued that by striking critical infrastructure, Russia is preparing the ground for trilateral talks.

Energy as the main target

Zelensky stressed that energy was once again the main objective of the attack. Kyiv faces a difficult situation with electricity, water and heating supplies. Residential buildings and the Northern Bridge were damaged, and a kindergarten was partly destroyed.

In the Kyiv region, the strikes hit substations linking the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine. Substations were also damaged in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Besides Kyiv, 12 more regions came under attack. In total, nine people were hurt, including one child.

Bridge closed, injured in hospital

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River was damaged and traffic in both directions is closed. According to him, five people were hurt in the city, among them a 14-year-old child. Two of the injured were taken to hospital.

Appeal to partners

Zelensky appealed to Ukraine's partners, particularly the United States, saying the country must not be left alone as Russia tries to push Kyiv and the whole nation into a total loss of power supply. He said Ukraine counts on stronger bilateral support from America and greater attention to Ukraine from the US Congress, since Russia keeps increasing the number of its attacks.

The president also expressed hope for unity between both US parties on security issues, on providing support, on condemning Russian aggression and on stepping up sanctions pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.