The China Mail - Russian strikes kill 18 in Kyiv region on eve of NATO summit

President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the alliance to take "strong decisions" on boosting Ukraine's air defences following the strike, which came just days after another Russian attack killed more than 30 people in Kyiv.

The European Union also said that Ukraine needed air defence reinforcements.

The morning strike punched a crater into a multi-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian capital, ripping its top floors into two.

AFP reporters heard more than 10 explosions during a ballistic missile alert during the night, with flashes in the sky as the blasts rang out.

It was the second attack in a week in which Russia deployed hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles -- triggering Zelensky's desperate new appeal for allies to send missiles for the US-made Patriot air defence systems.

He is set to discuss the war with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, which begins Tuesday.

"It is critically important that the world –- first and foremost the United States and our European partners –- come out of the NATO summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defense, and thus the protection of ordinary people's lives," he said on social media.

At least 18 people were killed in Kyiv and the surrounding region, with around 60 wounded, according to officials.

Russia fired 68 missiles and 351 attack drones, Zelensky said.

Officials in the Kyiv suburb of Vyshneve said they had evacuated residents because unexploded munitions could be in the debris.

- 'Massive strike' -

Locals in the northern Podilsky district of the capital said their area had been targeted heavily in recent Russian strikes.

One resident, Oleksandr Bakhlukov, told of a "powerful hit" at 1:30am that created a blast wave that blew out all the windows in his block. Three more blasts followed.

"Glass was falling down. There wasn't a single pane of glass left in the apartment," the 68-year-old added.

Another Kyiv resident, 36-year-old Anna Misko, said that she and her child "survived by sheer miracle" after taking shelter on her building's ground floor hours before a missile hit the upper floors.

"We weren't expecting this... there was an attack literally five days ago," the 36-year-old told AFP.

Russia's defence ministry said the "massive strike" using missiles and drones targeted what it described as "military-industrial enterprises," fuel and energy complex facilities in several Ukrainian regions.

Around 30 residential buildings in Kyiv were hit, with rescuers still sifting through the rubble hours after the attack, officials said.

Zelensky said Ukraine's army had shot down the Russian drones and cruise missiles, but had "insufficient supply of interceptor missiles" to stop the ballistic missiles.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the attack showed that Ukraine "urgently" needs more air defence and that this would be discussed at the NATO meeting.

Russia's army said its forces shot down more than 500 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the state-backed Max messaging service that waves of the drones were bound for the Russian capital.

Kyiv has increasingly targeted energy facilities inside Russia in an effort to weaken the Kremlin's war effort, triggering nationwide fuel shortages.

Both sides vowed fresh attacks after Russia struck apartment buildings in Kyiv last week, killing more than 30 people, including entire families.

US-led attempts to broker an end to the more than four-year war have gone nowhere.

The White House said Trump would meet Zelensky on Wednesday during the NATO summit in a bid to invigorate diplomacy.

"The president's obviously getting together with him to talk about how we can end the war. That's been a priority of his for a long time," a senior US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said Trump would "follow up" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin chief has refused to back down on hardline territorial and political demands that Ukraine and its allies say amount to capitulation.

On the front, Moscow's army said last week it had captured the strategic eastern town of Kostyantynivka, though Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were still fighting for the stronghold.

O.Tse--ThChM