The overnight attack shows Moscow is blocking ceasefire contracts to end the war, Zelensky says.
Ukrainian officials updated their calls for more sanctions against Russia after Russian troops launched dozens of attack drones and ballistic missiles in Kiev ahead of the second exchange of soldiers and civilians.
Ukrainian forces on Saturday said overnight attacks launched from multiple Russian regions used 250 drones and 14 ballistic missiles to strike Kiev, causing damage to several apartments and shopping malls and injuring at least 15 people.
The sites in Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Zaporidia in the Ukrainian region were also attacked, with Ukrainian forces saying six ballistic missiles being fired down by air defense, many of which are said to have been designed by Iran.
Ole Snyevbov, head of Kharkiv’s regional national government, said on Saturday morning that four Ukrainians have been killed and several others have been injured in the region over the past 24 hours as a result of multiple attacks by Russia.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense on Saturday said at least 100 Ukrainian drones had tried to attack Russian targets overnight. 64 unmanned aerial vehicles have been down overnight in the air in the Belgorod region, with 10 additional drones on sale Saturday morning, he said.
Dozens more projectiles fell over Kursk, Lipetsk and Voronezh, and five more were shot down in the northwest of Moscow.
The latest air attack comes hours after the announcement of 270 military and 120 civilians on the Ukrainian border with Belarus, as part of the largest prisoner exchange since the start of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Both sides agree to trade 1,000 prisoners, and a swap is expected soon.
“Difficult Night”
In a social media post, Ukrainian President Voldimir Zelensky said there is another “difficult night” in the country that he believes “the reason for the war is being dragged down is in Moscow.”
“It is clear that we need to put more pressure on Russia to get results and start real diplomacy. We are waiting for sanctions from the US, Europe and all our partners. Only additional sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.”
A group of seven (G7) countries threatened to impose further sanctions on Russia on Friday if they do not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andri Sibikha said a week after talks in Istanbul, the capital of Turkiye, that Moscow had not yet sent a “memoranth of Peace” led only to an agreement on the exchange of prisoners of war.
“Instead, Russia will send deadly drones and missiles to civilians,” he wrote in a post on X, adding, “an increase in sanctions pressure on Moscow is needed to accelerate the peace process.”
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren said the Istanbul meeting was a shame for Zelensky as he wanted a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a report from Kiev.
“Instead, it was a much lower level meeting. But they got this prisoner swap,” he said.
“Zelensky was disappointed by the lack of additional US sanctions on Russia. Europe agreed to new sanctions, but it is not clear that they have the desired effect of bringing Vladimir Putin to the negotiation table.”
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