Fierce and massive with hundreds and , launched against Kiev and other areas of it, a few hours before the crucial – as he described it himself – meeting of the Ukrainian president with his American counterpart, with the aim of reaching an agreement to end the war that has lasted almost four years.
Zelensky argued that the massive nighttime attack — which he said involved about 500 drones and 40 missiles and caused power and heating blackouts in parts of the capital — is Moscow’s response to peace efforts brokered by Washington.
Before the strikes, the Ukrainian president had said Sunday’s talks in Florida would focus on each side’s control of territory after hostilities end in Europe’s deadliest war since World War II.
The extent of the pounding is terrifying
The attack continued throughout the morning, while the air raid alert in Kiev lasted almost 10 hours and ended just at 11:20 local time (09:20 GMT). The authorities announced that one person was killed in the greater Kyiv region, while at least 19 were injured in the capital itself, including two children.
“If Russia is turning even the Christmas and New Year period into a season of destroyed houses and burned apartments, destroyed power plants, then this sick activity can only be dealt with by really strong measures,” Zelensky wrote on Platform X, calling on the US and Europe to increase pressure on Moscow.
According to reports, explosions could be heard across Kiev from early Saturday morning as Ukrainian air defense units went into full operational action. The Ukrainian Air Force announced that Russian drones were targeting the capital as well as areas in the northeast and south of the country.
Authorities reported damage in various parts of seven different districts of Kyiv, while at least three high-rise apartment buildings were engulfed in flames.
State electricity grid operator Ukrenergo announced that energy facilities across Ukraine, including Kyiv and the surrounding region, were hit by Russia, prompting emergency blackouts in the capital.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said a third of Kiev was left without heating as the temperature hovered around 0 degrees Celsius on Saturday morning.
Authorities in Kyiv Oblast — which surrounds the city but does not include the urban core — said 320,000 households were left without electricity after the attack.
The strikes also led to the temporary closure of Rzeszów and Lublin airports in southeastern Poland, west of Ukraine, after the Polish armed forces took off fighter jets, the Polish Air Traffic Service said via X.
The territorial remains the main thorn
Developments demonstrate that territoriality continues to be the main issue that remains unresolved. However, Zelensky told reporters in Kiev on Friday that a 20-point draft — the cornerstone of the US effort to reach a peace deal — was 90 percent complete.
He also said a security deal between Ukraine and the US is nearing completion, crucial after the failure of previous post-Soviet security guarantees.
“Much can be decided before the New Year,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
Trump said the United States is driving the process.
“It doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” he told Politico. “We’ll see what he has.”
Before their meeting, Zelenskiy will have a phone call on Saturday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other European leaders, according to a Commission spokesman.
Zelensky told Axios that the US has proposed a 15-year, renewable security guarantee agreement, but Kiev wants a long-term deal with legally binding provisions to prevent further Russian aggression.
Trump said he believed Sunday’s meeting would go well and that he expected to speak with Putin “soon.”
Nuclear power station and free economic zone on the table
Beyond the territories, a crucial issue is control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which was seized by Russia in the first weeks of the war.
Moscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from areas of eastern Donetsk region that Russian forces have failed to capture in their bid to control all of Donbas, which includes Luhansk region.
Kiev, however, wants to freeze the clashes on the current front lines.
Under a US compromise proposal, a free economic zone could be created if Ukrainian troops withdraw from parts of the Donetsk region, although details remain unclear.
Axios reported that Zelensky said that if he can’t get the US to back Ukraine’s position on the territory issue, he is willing to put the 20-point plan to a referendum — provided Russia agrees to a 60-day truce so Ukraine can prepare and hold the vote.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Kiev’s version of the 20-point plan differs from what Russia has been discussing with the US, according to the Interfax news agency.
However, he expressed optimism that the process has reached a “tipping point” to reach an agreement.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Usakov has been in contact with members of the Trump administration after receiving US proposals for a possible peace deal, the Kremlin said on Friday, without disclosing Moscow’s position on the documents.
