Russia launches deadly wave of drone, missile attacks across Ukraine

Al Jazeera :

Large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine’s capital overnight have killed at least two people and injured five, including a two-year-old child, according to officials.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Wednesday that Russia launched a wave of drone and missile attacks on the capital.
One person was killed and 10 rescued in the Dniprovskiy area after drone debris hit one of the floors of a residential tower. The second casualty was reported in the Dnipro district, where a building caught fire, Klitschko said, adding that 10 people were evacuated.
In the Pechersky district, the fall of a missile fragment caused a fire. In Darnytsky, drone debris caused another fire in a building, a hangar, and a residential tower.
Early on Wednesday, Klitschko said, explosions were reported in at least four districts, shattering glass in residential buildings and causing several fires.
Other areas in Ukraine were also struck overnight.
Oleh Syniehubov, governor of Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, said railway infrastructure and cars were damaged in an attack carried out by drones.
Ukrainian authorities declared an airborne alert in the Zaporizhia region. The head of the southern Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said drone attacks damaged the energy and port infrastructure of Izmail city.
The attacks come as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been trying to convince his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to allow it to strike deeper into Russian territory and gain leverage in ceasefire talks.
While Trump had expressed some openness to the idea on previous occasions, he backtracked from that possibility on Friday during a meeting with Zelenskyy at the White House.
The change came a day after a surprise phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. During their phone call, the two leaders had agreed to meet for talks, but those expectations were dashed on Tuesday when officials from both sides said the meeting would not take place any time soon.
“I don’t want to have a wasted meeting … I’ll see what happens,” said Trump.