Powerful blasts echoed through Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on Saturday as Russian forces launched a major missile assault, prompting urgent warnings from local authorities.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko issued an alert on Telegram, stating: “Explosions in the capital. Air defense forces are operating. Stay in shelters!”
Ukraine’s air force declared a nationwide air raid alert in the early hours of the day. Officials reported on social media that drones and missiles were inbound across multiple regions, including Kyiv itself.
Journalists from AFP in the city reported hearing multiple loud detonations, with some accompanied by vivid orange flashes illuminating the skyline.
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The attack unfolded amid heightened diplomatic tensions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to discuss a proposed framework aimed at halting the conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
On Friday, Russia claimed that Zelensky and his European Union supporters were attempting to undermine the U.S.-mediated initiative.
The proposal in question is a 20-point plan that would effectively pause the fighting along existing front lines. It could allow Ukrainian forces to withdraw from eastern areas, potentially establishing demilitarized buffer zones, as outlined by Zelensky earlier this week.
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