Ukraine’s Kyiv faces Russian assault ahead of Trump-Zelensky meet, air force issues countrywide alert

Several powerful explosions rocked Kyiv on Saturday, with air defences in operation and the military warning of the impending deployment of missiles.

“Explosions in the capital. Air defence forces are operating. Stay in shelters!” AFP quoted Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko as saying on Telegram.

Ukraine’s air force also announced a countrywide air alert in the early hours of Saturday. According to a Reuters report, a military Telegram channel said cruise and ballistic missiles were being deployed.

The attack comes just ahead of a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump on Sunday in Florida to discuss the end of the war between Kyiv and Moscow.

Zelensky is expected to discuss territorial issues, the main stumbling block in talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Trump in Florida on Sunday. The meeting comes as a 20-point peace framework and a security guarantee deal near completion.

Announcing the meeting, Zelensky said “a lot can be decided before the New Year,” as Washington drives efforts to end Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

“As for the sensitive issues, we will discuss both Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. We will certainly discuss other issues as well,” he told reporters in a WhatsApp chat, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday that it had captured a new village in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, while Ukraine’s military said that, despite errors, it was defending a larger town in the area.

Moscow wants Ukraine to withdraw from the parts of the eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have failed to occupy during almost four years of war, as it seeks full control of the Donbas, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Kyiv wants the fighting to be halted at the current battle lines.