The China Mail - Explosions, fires rock Kyiv in deadly Russian barrage

The Kremlin said just after the massive attack that it was still open to more ceasefire talks with Ukraine.

The UN said the number of victims from Russian attacks was at its highest level in three years.

The barrage came before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Malaysia.

In Rome, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky called for more political and military support from allies at a conference there.

AFP journalists heard loud detonations reverberating over Kyiv throughout the night and saw flashes from air defence systems illuminating the sky during the attack.

Karyna Wolf, a Kyiv resident, told AFP she could hear the buzzing of a drone grow louder until a large explosion rocked the flats just two floors above in her building.

"I immediately jumped away from the wall, away from the windows and ran into the hallway, and in those seconds there was an explosion. There was a lot of glass shards flying at me," the 25-year-old said.

- Fresh sanctions call -

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 415 drones and missiles at the country while Zelensky urged allies to roll out fresh sanctions on Moscow faster.

"Sanctions must be imposed faster, and pressure on Russia must be strong enough that they truly feel the consequences of their terror," he wrote on social media.

The fresh onslaught came just one night after Russia fired a record number of 741 long-range drones and missiles at Ukraine since launching its costly invasion more than three years ago.

The attack killed two women -- a 22-year-old policewoman, who was on overnight duty at a metro station, and a 68-year-old Kyiv resident -- and wounded 16 people, officials said.

Police identified the victim as Maria Dziumaga, a "kind, cheerful, sincere, responsible, and dedicated police officer" who had joined in 2023.

AFP reporters saw firefighters putting out flames in a damaged residential building and people emerging from shelters, carrying sleeping mats and pets after the air alert was lifted.

Russia's defence ministry said the strike had targeted "military-industrial enterprises" in Kyiv as well as airbases.

- Coalition call -

Russia's escalating attacks and record barrage point to a trend that has piled pressure on Ukraine's thinly stretched air defences and exhausted the civilian population.

The UN announced after the that recent attacks on Ukrainian cities had led to a three-year high in the number of civilians killed or wounded in June.

"Civilians across Ukraine are facing levels of suffering we have not seen in over three years," said Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

The UN verified at least 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded during the month -- the highest combined toll since April 2022.

Two rounds of direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations this year secured more prisoner exchanges but made no progress on a ceasefire proposed by the United States and Ukraine.

The Kremlin however denied Thursday that peace talks to end its invasion had stalled.

"We cannot say that now," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, when asked if Moscow believed the negotiation process was slowing.

Russia was waiting for "signals from Kyiv" for a third round of talks, he added.

Washington's top diplomat, Rubio, met his Russian counterpart in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting.

Their meeting followed Donald Trump's recent expletive-filled comments about Vladimir Putin -- reflecting the US president's growing frustration with the Russian leader over the grinding war.

Trump accused Putin of talking "bullshit" about Ukraine, adding that the United States would send Kyiv more weapons to defend itself.

Rubio and Lavrov last met in person in February in Saudi Arabia, following a rapprochement between Trump and Putin. The two diplomats have also spoken multiple times by phone.

Also on Thursday, Zelensky will join a call with leaders from around 30 countries in the Ukraine "coalition of the willing."

Zelensky said after the attack that he would speak to allies about "additional funding for the production of interceptor drones and the supply of air-defence systems for Ukraine.

"The objectives are absolutely clear. Such Russian attacks must be met with a tough response," he added.

Britain and France are spearheading talks among the coalition on how to support a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, including potentially deploying peacekeeping forces.

K.Leung--ThChM