Pallade Veneta - Missile strike on Kyiv kills one amid 'massive' attack

Russia "in the early hours of this morning launched a massive nationwide attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones," said first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

In Kyiv, explosions were heard overnight and a dark plume of smoke rose up from the city early Sunday morning, AFP journalists saw.

In the capital, "preliminarily, one person was killed, and three were wounded, two of them were hospitalised," the head of the city's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on social media.

City mayor Vitali Klitschko said that "the body of a man killed in an enemy attack was discovered in Darnytsia district. He was on the street, near the epicentre of the explosion. The man's identity is being established."

Emergency services said that during attacks, fires broke out in Kyiv in non-residential buildings, damaging a multi-storey business centre, furniture factory and warehouses.

The emergency services posted video of smoke rising from charred debris, a gutted hangar and a large multi-storey administrative building with the roof torn off and windows blown out.

Overnight, Russia attacked Ukraine with 23 cruise and ballistic missiles and 109 drones, the Ukrainian air force said, causing damage to six regions.

The air force said it shot down 13 of the missiles and 40 drones while 54 others caused no damage.

In the southern Kherson region, a drone killed a 59-year-old man, while in the northeastern Kharkiv region near the border with Russia two were injured in an attack using guided aerial bombs, regional officials said.

In western Ukraine's Khmelnytsky region, authorities said air defences destroyed a missile but falling fragments damaged a house and a woman was injured.

The attacks come as US President Donald Trump pushes for a partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, more than three years into Moscow's full-scale invasion, and seeks a thaw in ties with the Kremlin.

Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Sunday: "The language of force is the only one that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin understands. All our partners need to switch to this language."

- 'Weak reaction' -

The latest attacks came two days after a missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig killed 18 people including nine children on Friday evening.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed the US embassy for what he called a "weak" statement that did not blame Russia for the deadly missile strike on his home city.

In an emotional statement on social media, Zelensky accused the US embassy of avoiding referring to Russia as the aggressor.

"Unfortunately, the reaction of the American embassy is unpleasantly surprising: such a strong country, such a strong people -- and such a weak reaction," Zelensky wrote.

"They are even afraid to say the word 'Russian' when talking about the missile that killed the children."

The Ukrainian president took aim at the US Ambassador Bridget Brink after she posted a message on X on Friday that said: "Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant."

In subsequent posts, Brink has referred to Russia as the aggressor, writing on Sunday morning that Ukraine was "under a ballistic and cruise missile attack from Russia".

- Talks with French, UK military chiefs -

Trump is pushing the two sides to agree to a ceasefire but his administration has failed to broker an accord acceptable to both.

Zelensky on Saturday hailed "tangible progress" after meeting British and French military chiefs in Kyiv on Friday to discuss a plan by London and Paris to send a "reassurance" force to Ukraine if and when a deal on ending the conflict is reached.

The Ukrainian president wrote on social media that the meeting with British Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin and French counterpart Thierry Burkhard agreed "the first details on how the security contingent of partners can be deployed".

This is one of the latest efforts by European leaders to agree on a coordinated policy after Trump sidelined them and opened direct talks with the Kremlin.

R.Zaccone--PV