Russian air raids killed at least 16 people and injured dozens others on Thursday morning, in an assault that came shortly after US President Donald Trump warned Kremlin to put an end to the war in 10 days.
Among the killed was a six-year-old boy who died on the way to hospital, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said. Ten children, including a 5-month-old girl, were among the injured, Tkachenko stated, adding that a large part of a nine-story residential building collapsed after the airstrike.
“The brutal Russian strikes destroyed entire residential buildings and damaged schools and hospitals. Civilians are injured and killed. There are still people under the rubble,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry stated on Thursday that its forces downed 32 Ukrainian drones overnight. Drone wreckage halted work of trains in Volgograd region, while fire occurred in an industrial site in Russia’s Penza region, local authorities said. On the same day, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed that its forces captured strategically important town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Donetsk region that serves a military hub for Kyiv. Ukrainian army denied as a “lie” Moscow’s claim about the capture of the town. Russia made the capture of industrial Donetsk region a priority since September 2022 when it declared the region’s annexation.
Russia’s deadly attack on Kyiv on Thursday came days after Trump set a deadline of ten to twelve days for Russia to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. On July 29, Trump shortened a 50-day deadline that he had given to Russian leader Vladimir Putin two weeks ago. Trump said Russia would face severe sanctions if it did not agree to peace.
The deadline set for Russia highlighted Trump's growing frustration with Putin’s unwillingness to agree to a peace deal in Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov said Moscow took note of Trump’s remarks, while stressing that Russia would continue its “special operation” in Ukraine.
Despite Trump’s efforts, the US-mediated peace efforts have failed to gain momentum, while the three rounds of talks held between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, Turkey have failed to produce any results.
