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

Several powerful explosions rocked Kyiv on Saturday as authorities warned that the Ukrainian capital was under threat of missile attack.

Updated on: Dec 27, 2025, 05:46:31 IST

By HT News Desk

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

Police officers inspect the site of the Russian airstrike in Ukraine. (AP/ Representative)

"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 and said on social media that drones and missiles were moving over several Ukrainian regions, including the capital, the report added.

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.

Russia accused Zelensky and his EU backers on Friday of seeking to "torpedo" the US-brokered plan.

Announcing the Sunday meeting on Friday, 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.

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HT News Desk
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