Eight killed in major Kyiv attack, Zelensky says

Eight people have been killed in Kyiv, including a child, after a heavy Russian bombardment overnight, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram that the dead included two children, while Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 38 people had been injured in the "massive" drone and missile attack.

In a statement on X, Zelensky said the Kremlin had chosen "ballistics instead of the negotiating table", and reiterated the need for "new, tough sanctions" on Russia.

The wave of missiles comes after more than 100,000 Ukrainian homes were left without power by Russian drone attacks on energy infrastructure on Wednesday.

In a post on Telegram, Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said one of the children who was killed was a 14-year-old girl. At least five children had been injured in the latest drone strikes.

He noted more than 20 districts had been targeted, with many buildings including a kindergarten catching on fire.

Three and a half years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, fighting on the ground shows no sign of abating.

The latest international effort to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine was launched by US President Donald Trump earlier this month. He met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska and Zelensky with European leaders in Washington.

Trump has been pushing for a Putin-Zelensky summit. Ukraine's president has backed the move, but he has sought security guarantees from Western allies to prevent any future Russian attack in the event of a peace deal.

On Tuesday, Zelensky met the head of Britain's armed forces, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, in Kyiv, where they discussed efforts to end the war.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has said he would meet Ukrainian representatives in New York this week, telling Fox News "we talk to the Russians every day".

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has warned that handing over Ukrainian territory to Russia as part of a peace deal was a "trap".