Russia targets Kyiv with missiles and drones ahead of Ukraine-US meeting

Russian missiles and drones have again targeted Kyiv, Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Russia has attacked Kyiv with missiles and drones, wounding at least 11 people, a day before key talks between Ukraine and the US.

Explosions boomed across the Ukrainian capital for hours early on Saturday as ballistic missiles and drones hit the city, continuing as day broke.

The attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to meet US President Donald Trump on Sunday for further talks in an effort to end the nearly four-year-old war. Mr Zelensky has said they plan to discuss issues including security guarantees and territorial matters in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Two children were among those injured in the attack, which local officials said affected seven locations across the city of Kyiv.

A fire broke out in an 18-storey residential building in Dnipro district and emergency crews rushed to the scene to contain the flames.

A 24-storey residential building in Darnytsia district was also hit, local officials said, and more fires broke out in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivsky districts.

In the wider Kyiv region, the strikes hit industrial and residential buildings, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. In the Vyshhorod area, emergency crews rescued one person found under the rubble of a destroyed house.

It came hours after Mr Zelensky said he will meet Mr Trump in Florida over the weekend.

He told journalists the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready”.

Rustem Umerov reported on his latest contacts with the American side. We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future. A lot can be decided before the New Year. Glory to Ukraine!

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 26, 2025

An “economic agreement” will also be discussed, he said, but he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalised by the end”.

The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues”, he said.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved”, but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.

“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the US are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.

The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive US-led diplomatic push to end the war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.