KYIV, Ukraine: Russia bombarded Ukraine early on Monday, killing two people in the Kyiv region, authorities said, on the eve of a diplomatic summit in France.
A countrywide siren was issued just after midnight, while Ukraine’s military said air defences were operating in several locations.
In the capital, a private medical facility caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes, killing one person and wounding three others, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv said.
It released images of rescuers removing people on stretchers from a gutted building.
Another pre-dawn attack on the neighbouring city of Fastiv killed one man in his 70s, according to Kyiv Regional Governor, Mykola Kalashnyk.
The strikes caused power outages in the area, with backup systems activated to maintain water and heating supplies, the official said, as temperatures dropped to -8°C.
The attacks came on the eve of a meeting of European leaders in Paris as they seek a breakthrough on a peace plan Kyiv says is “90 per cent” ready.
To lay the groundwork, security advisers from 15 countries – including Britain, France and Germany – as well as representatives from NATO and the European Union, gathered in Kyiv over the weekend.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff joined the talks virtually, a Ukrainian official told AFP, though the United States’ large-scale military attack on Venezuela earlier in the day overshadowed proceedings.
Diplomatic efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have gained pace in recent weeks, though both Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.
Russia, which occupies around 20 per cent of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of the country’s eastern Donbas region as part of a deal, but Kyiv has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and said it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter Russia from invading again. – AFP
