Russia Attacks Kyiv           04/24 06:38

   Russia attacked Kyiv with an hours-long barrage of missiles and drones, 
killing at least nine people and injuring more than 70 in its deadliest assault 
on the Ukrainian capital since last July and just as peace efforts are coming 
to a head.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russia attacked Kyiv with an hours-long barrage of 
missiles and drones, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 70 in 
its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since last July and just as 
peace efforts are coming to a head.

   Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the attack he is cutting 
short his official trip to South Africa and returning home as the city reeled 
from the bombardment that kept residents on edge for about 11 hours. It 
appeared to be Russia's biggest attack on Kyiv in nine months, and Zelenskyy 
branded it as "one of (Russia's) most outrageous."

   Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko announced that Friday would be an official day 
of mourning day in the capital.

   The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, 
four plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at 
Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine. Rescue workers with flashlights scoured 
the charred rubble of partly collapsed homes as the blue lights of emergency 
vehicles lit up the dark city streets.

   The attack came as weeks of peace negotiations appeared to be culminating 
without an agreement in sight and hours after U.S. President Donald Trump 
lashed out at Zelenskyy, accusing him of prolonging the "killing field" by 
refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a 
possible deal.

   Zelenskyy says future of negotiations depends on Moscow

   Zelenskyy has repeated many times during the more than three-year war that 
recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country. He 
noted Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days 
ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russia's attacks had 
continued.

   He said in South Africa that the latest attack meant the future of 
negotiations "depends on Russia's intention because it is in Moscow where they 
have to make a decision."

   While talks have been going on in recent weeks, Russia has hit the city of 
Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, 
battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.

   The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the attack 
underscored that the main obstacle to ending the war is Russia.

   "While claiming to seek peace, Russia launched a deadly airstrike on Kyiv," 
she wrote on social media. "This isn't a pursuit of peace, it's a mockery of 
it."

   Senior U.S. officials have warned that the Trump administration could soon 
give up its efforts to stop the war if the two sides don't compromise.

   Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack showed Russian 
President Vladimir Putin is determined to press his bigger army's advantage on 
the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where it currently holds the 
momentum.

   "Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect 
any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war," Sybiha said on X. 
"Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression. Only 
strength and pressure will."

   Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that since Russia's February 
2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Russian attacks haves killed some 
13,000 civilians, including 618 children.

   Kyiv residents spent the night in shelters

   At least 42 people were hospitalized following the attack on residential 
suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said.

   At a Kyiv residential building that was almost entirely destroyed, emergency 
workers removed rubble with their hands, rescuing a trapped woman who emerged 
from the wreckage covered in white dust and moaning in pain.

   An elderly woman sat against a brick wall, face smeared with blood, her eyes 
fixed to the ground in shock as medics tended to her wounds.

   Fires were reported in several residential buildings said Tymur Tkachenko, 
the head of the city military administration.

   The attack, which began around 1 a.m., hit at least five neighborhoods in 
Kyiv.

   Oksana Bilozir, a student, suffered a head injury in the attack. With blood 
seeping from her bandaged head, she said that she heard a loud explosion after 
the air alarm blared and began to grab her things to flee to a shelter when 
another blast caused her home's walls to crumble and the lights to go off.

   "I honestly don't even know how this will all end, it's very scary," said 
Bilozir, referring to the war against Russia's invasion. "I only believe that 
if we can stop them on the battlefield, then that's it. No diplomacy works 
here."

   The attack kept many people awake all night long as multiple loud explosions 
reverberated around the city and flashes of light punctuated the sky. Families 
gathered in public air raid shelters, some of them bringing their pet cat and 
dog.

   Zelenskyy returning from South Africa

   Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that he would fly back to Kyiv after 
meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

   The Ukrainian leader had hoped to recruit further South African support in 
efforts to end his country's war with Russia, now in its fourth year.

   The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the Kyiv 
attack was "yet another appalling violation of international humanitarian law."

   "Civilians must never be targets. This senseless use of force must stop," it 
said in a statement.

   Anastasiia Zhuravlova, 33, a mother of two, was sheltering in a basement 
after multiple blasts damaged her home. Her family was sleeping when the first 
explosion shattered their windows and sent kitchen appliances flying in the 
air. Shards of glass rained down on them as they rushed to take cover in the 
corridor.

   "After that we came to the shelter because it was scary and dangerous at 
home," she said.

   In Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district, the attack flattened a two-story 
residential building and heavily damaged nearby multi-story buildings. Rescue 
work continued through the morning.

   At a nearby school-turned-relief center, children helped parents cover 
blown-out windows with plastic while others queued for government