Russia and Ukraine continue missile and drone attacks.

Foreign media: Kyiv was hit by missiles and drones, leaving 15 people injured; Zelenskyy: The root cause of prolonging the war lies in Moscow.

Night of the 23rd to the early morning of the 24th, Russia launched a large-scale ballistic missile and drone attack on Kyiv. This is one of the largest combined air strikes that Kyiv has suffered since the war began over three years ago, damaging several apartment buildings and injuring 15 people.

The photos taken by Reuters photographers showed orange-red light illuminating the entire city during the air raid. Thick smoke rose and spread across the horizon. From the balcony windows of the top floor of an apartment building, thick smoke and flames gushed out when firefighters tried to approach.

In the early hours of the morning, government officials reported that six districts in Kyiv were damaged. So far, 15 people have been injured. Three of them needed hospital treatment. Officials said two of the injured are children. The Kyiv Military Administration described it as one of the largest joint drone and missile attacks during the war.

The attack came as U.S. President Trump encouraged both sides of Russia and Ukraine to sit down for ceasefire negotiations to end the war, but he did not follow through on his threat to impose new sanctions on Russia.

The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 long-range drones at targets within Ukraine overnight, mainly targeting Kyiv. In recent days, Ukrainian drones carried out about 800 attacks on Russian targets, including the capital Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov vowed on Friday to respond to these attacks.

Saturday, both sides exchanged 307 soldiers each on the second day of the prisoner exchange plan. After this exchange, it will become the largest prisoner exchange since the full-scale war between the two countries erupted.

Trump said that the expected release of 1,000 prisoners each within three days by both sides might signal a new phase in the intermittent peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. A Russian negotiator said they were preparing a memorandum as the starting point for the next round of talks. No date or location has been agreed upon yet.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy pointed out on Saturday via the social media platform X: "It was a tough night for all of Ukraine - 250 drones, most of which were Iran's 'Witness' (drones) and 14 ballistic missiles. Odesa, Vinnytsia, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kyiv, and Dnipro all suffered losses. All attacks targeted civilians. There were casualties."

Zelenskyy said, "Every such attack further convinces the world that the root cause of prolonging the war lies in Moscow. Ukraine has proposed ceasefires multiple times - both comprehensive ceasefires and aerial ceasefires. But they were ignored."

Zelenskyy added, "Obviously, greater pressure must be applied to Russia to achieve results and launch real diplomatic efforts. We are waiting for the United States, Europe, and all partners to take sanctions measures. Only further sanctions targeting key areas of the Russian economy can force Moscow to stop the fighting."

Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833021543991625/

Disclaimer: The article only represents the author's personal views.