Ukraine-Russia battle newest: At least 9 useless as Kyiv hit by large missile and drone strike

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters Donald Trump is “frustrated” with the pace of talks and that Volodymyr Zelensky “seems to be moving in the wrong direction”.

Several sources have said proposals from Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff include not only recognising Russia’s annexation of Crimea, but accepting Russia’s control of the 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory it has gained in the war, ruling out Ukrainian membership of Nato and lifting Western sanctions.

Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg said on X that there were positive talks in London with Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and added: “It’s time to move forward on President Trump’s UKR-RU war directive: stop the killing, achieve peace, and put America First.”

Trump raised the pressure on Sunday when he said he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would make a deal this week to end the conflict.

At the heart of Wednesday’s talks was an attempt to establish what Kyiv could possibly accept after Witkoff presented proposals to a similar session in Paris last week.

Three diplomats said those proposals appeared to demand more concessions from Ukraine than Russia.

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky clashed publicly again on Wednesday, almost two months after their explosive bust-up in the Oval Office.

The US leader slated Zelensky for refusing to recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea as part of a peace agreement – a position that appears to have scuttled a potentially crucial peace summit that was due to be held in London on Wednesday.

Trump’s vice president JD Vance said it was time for Russia and Ukraine to either agree to a US peace proposal “or for the United States to walk away from this process,” echoing a warning from Trump last week.

Speaking to reporters in India, Vance said the proposal called for freezing territorial lines “at some level close to where they are today” and a “long-term diplomatic settlement that hopefully will lead to long-term peace”.

“The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing,” he said.

Claiming the territory had been lost for good in 2014 and was not up for discussion, Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of making an end to the war harder to achieve.

A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack hit Kyiv overnight, killing nine people and injuring another 63, including six children, Ukrainian authorities said this morning.

The Kyiv City Military Administration said on its Telegram channel that Russia struck Kyiv with drones and ballistic missiles. At least 42 people were hospitalised, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. Rescue operations were still underway early morning to find bodies under the rubble.

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

The attack, which began around 1am, hit at least four neighborhoods in Kyiv. In Sviatoshynkskyi district, a fire broke out in a residential building that was damaged in the attack.

People were trapped under rubble in the building, the Kyiv City Administration said.

More fires were reported in the Shevchenkivsky and Holosiivskyi districts.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Ukraine’s president, saying Volodymyr Zelensky is prolonging the “killing field” after pushing back on ceding Crimea to Russia as part of a potential peace plan.

Zelensky on Tuesday ruled out ceding territory to Russia in any deal before talks set for Wednesday in London among US, European and Ukrainian officials.

“There is nothing to talk about. It is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” Zelensky said.

During similar talks last week in Paris, US officials presented a proposal that included allowing Russia to keep control of occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a deal, according to a European official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump called Zelenky’s pushback “very harmful” to talks.”Nobody is asking Zelensky to recognise Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?” he wrote on social media.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after sending troops to overrun it. Weeks later, Moscow-backed separatists launched an uprising in eastern Ukraine, battling Kyiv’s forces.

Trump also asserted they were close to a deal and that Ukraine’s leader can have peace or “he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” adding that Zelenskyy’s statement “will do nothing but prolong the ‘killing field,’ and nobody wants that!”

A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack hit Kyiv overnight, killing nine people and injuring another 63, including six children, Ukrainian authorities said.

The Kyiv City Military Administration said on its Telegram channel on Thursday that Russia struck Kyiv with drones and ballistic missiles.

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

A Russian journalist caught in a Ukrainian artillery strike last month died of his wounds in hospital, his publication said early this morning.

Nikita Goldin, who worked for the military’s Zvezda Television, was part of a group that came under attack in a Moscow-controlled part of Luhansk region in northeastern Ukraine on 24 March.

Six people died in the strike, including two other journalists and their driver.

Goldin, who also wrote for the military daily Krasnaya Zvezda, was taken to a military hospital in Moscow, but died of his wounds nearly a month after the attack.

Russia’s foreign ministry accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting the journalists in the attack.

Data provided earlier in the war by the Committee to Protect Journalists counted at least 15 journalists killed since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A Russian journalist caught in a Ukrainian artillery strike last month died of his wounds in hospital, his publication said early this morning.

Nikita Goldin, who worked for the military’s Zvezda Television, was part of a group that came under attack in a Moscow-controlled part of Luhansk region in northeastern Ukraine on 24 March.

Six people died in the strike, including two other journalists and their driver.

Goldin, who also wrote for the military daily Krasnaya Zvezda, was taken to a military hospital in Moscow, but died of his wounds nearly a month after the attack.

Russia’s foreign ministry accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting the journalists in the attack.

Data provided earlier in the war by the Committee to Protect Journalists counted at least 15 journalists killed since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.