Zelenskyy cuts short South African trip after massive Russian strike on Kyiv kills 9

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Zelenskyy cuts short South African trip after massive Russian strike on Kyiv kills 9

[html]A woman sits in a school basement being used as a shelter after a Russian airstrike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

2025-04-24T04:29:41Z

                                       

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday he is cutting short his         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-ukraine-russia-war-trump-south-africa-aac31e008039b3afbd45ed9fe482e3fa">official trip to South Africa and returning home after a major Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with missiles and drones killed at least nine people and injured more than 70.

The Russian attack on Kyiv came as weeks of peace negotiations appeared to be coming to a head without an agreement in sight and hours after U.S. President Donald Trump         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-peace-talks-london-4f35dc70f521e2363218f4c40748caba">lashed out at Zelenskyy, accusing him of prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/crimea">Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal.

Zelenskyy has repeated many times during the more than         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">three-year war that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country. He noted Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russia’s attacks had continued.

   
       
   

While talks have been going on in recent weeks, Russia has         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-sumy-b034da8f4d83d08e5ea24c6033dbe3cf">hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday,         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-drone-attack-peace-talks-be98e85000b8e0f24a2d7ada71f3861d">battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.

   
       




   



           
               
                   
   

       
   


       
       
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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Rescue workers clear the rubble of a house destroyed by a Russian airstrike in a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

               
           
       
       
   

   
   
   

               
           
       

Senior U.S. officials have warned that the Trump administration could soon give up its efforts to stop the war if the two sides don’t compromise.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack showed Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to press his bigger army’s advantage on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where it currently holds the momentum.

   
   
       
           
               
   
   


   
   

       
   

           
       
   
   

“Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war,” Sybiha said on X. “Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression. Only strength and pressure will.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Russian attacks haves killed some 13,000 civilians, including 618 children.

   
       
   

Kyiv residents spent the night in shelters

At least 42 people were hospitalized following the attack on residential suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, four plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine.

Rescue workers with flashlights scoured the charred rubble of partly collapsed homes as the blue lights of emergency vehicles lit up the dark city streets.

At a Kyiv residential building that was almost entirely destroyed, emergency workers removed rubble with their hands, rescuing a trapped woman who emerged from the wreckage covered in white dust and moaning in pain.

           
               
                   
   

       
   


       
       
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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Police officers guide an injured woman out of her house, which was damaged by a Russian airstrike, in a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

               
           
       
       
   

   
   
   

               
           
       

An elderly woman sat against a brick wall, face smeared with blood, her eyes fixed to the ground in shock as medics tended to her wounds.

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

   
       
   


           
               
                   
   

       
   


       
       
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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Ukrainian searchers clear the rubble after a Russian ballistic missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)