Fire crews tackle a blaze in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 March 2025. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned the continued Russian pummelling of Ukrainian cities in recent days, as three people were killed overnight in Kyiv, with further airstrikes reported on Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odesa and Donetsk regions.
“Sanctions against Russian terrorists must be more effective. Every loophole that allows them to bypass the sanctions regime must be eliminated,” Zelensky wrote on X on Sunday, noting that as well as launching nearly 150 drones at targets in Ukraine overnight, Russia had used “over 1,580 guided aerial bombs, nearly 1,100 strike drones, and 15 missiles of various types” to attack Ukraine in the past week alone.
Three people were killed and another 10 were injured in Kyiv as a barrage of Russian drones struck the Ukrainian capital overnight, the city’s military administration said on Sunday morning.
Among the dead were a five-year-old girl and her father, while one of the injured was an 11-month-old infant, according to the authorities, who added that fires had broken out and buildings had been seriously damaged across the city where drones had either reached their targets or had fallen to the ground after being intercepted.
The body of a resident was discovered by emergency workers in the ruins of a nine-storey residential building, the upper floors of which had caught fire after being struck by a drone, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported, adding that 27 other residents had been safely evacuated from the same building.
The bodies of a five-year-old girl and her father were found by first responders in a four-storey office and warehouse building that caught fire after the wreckage of a downed drone landed on the complex, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
On Tuesday, during a call with US President Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin agreed to observe a 30-day moratorium on airstrikes targeting energy infrastructure, though he stopped short of endorsing a US-proposed 30-day total ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday committed Kyiv to the same proposal. However, despite this, both sides have continued to launch drone strikes on enemy infrastructure targets.
Delegations from both Russia and Ukraine are due to begin indirect talks in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Monday, to be facilitated by US Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, as the Trump administration continues its efforts to bring a swift end to the war.
