Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky condemns ‘sick’ drone attack on Kyiv ahead of peace talks with Trump

Ahead of his meeting with US president Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine has its “red lines” but is sure compromise can be found as he aims to discuss security guarantees and territorial issues in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk.

He continued that Ukraine would need more air defence missiles as Russia continues to bombard the country with missiles and drones – the latest attack involving almost 500 drones and 40 missiles, just days after a 600-strong drone and missile attack from Moscow.

He added Ukraine could not have a referendum under the current security conditions and strong security guarantees were needed to facilitate democratic process.

At least 10 residential buildings were damaged in the attack on Ukraine, said interior minister Ihor Klymenko, and people are being evacuated from under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Two children were among those injured in the attack, which local officials said affected seven locations across the city of Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is on a plane to the US to meet with Donald Trump.

He will stop in Canada to meet close ally prime minister Mark Carney.

Zelensky will discuss security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions in an effort to end the war.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, is one of the main sticking points in US president Donald Trump’s peace plan to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine. The issue is one of 20 points laid out by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a framework peace proposal.

The plant is located in Enerhodar on the banks of the Dnipro River and the Kakhovka Reservoir, 550 km (342 miles) southeast of the capital Kyiv.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six Soviet-designed reactors. They were all built in the 1980s, although the sixth only came online in the mid-1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It has a total capacity of 5.7 gigawatts, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) database.

Four of the six reactors no longer use Russian nuclear fuel, having switched to fuel produced by then-US nuclear equipment supplier Westinghouse.

After Russia took control of the station, it shut down five of its six reactors and the last reactor ceased to produce electricity in September 2022. Rosatom said in 2025 that it was ready to return the U.S. fuel to the United States.

According to the Russian management of the plant, all six reactors are in “cold shutdown.”

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of striking the nuclear plant and of severing power lines to the plant.

The plant’s equipment is powered by electricity supplied from Ukraine. Over the past four years these supplies have been interrupted at least eleven times due to breaks in power lines, forcing the plant to switch to emergency diesel generators.

Emergency generators on site can supply electricity to keep the reactors cool if external power lines are cut.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi says that fighting a war around a nuclear plant has put nuclear safety and security in constant jeopardy.

Drones are Russia’s response to proposals to end the war, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has said following a huge barrage of missiles and drones overnight on Kyiv.

Taking to social media, he said: “There have been many questions over the past few days – so where is Russia’s response to the proposals to end the war offered by the United States and the world?

“Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals and ‘shaheds’ speak for them. This is the true attitude of Putin and his inner circle.

“They do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering and increase their pressure on others around the world.”

Russia attacked Ukraine with nearly 500 drones and 40 missiles overnight, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian resident Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.

“If Russia turns even the Christmas and New Year period into a time of destroyed homes and burned apartments, of ruined power plants, then this sick activity can only be responded to with truly strong steps,” Zelensky wrote on X, calling for the US and Europe to pressure Moscow harder.

Rzeszow and Lublin airports in ‌southeastern Poland reopened on Saturday after fighter jet operations ‌ended ​following Russian ​strikes on Ukraine, the Polish ‍Air Navigation ‍Services Agency (PANSA) ​said on ‍X.

PANSA had earlier announced the ‍temporary closure of ⁠the airports due to military aircraft activity in the area. The Operational Command of the Polish Armed said Polish and allied jets had completed their operations and reported no violation of Polish airspace.

Over 2,600 residential buildings, 187 nurseries ‌and 138 schools in Kyiv have been left without ‌heat ​after ​an overnight Russian ‍attack, the ‍city administration ​said on ‍Saturday.

The temperature in the capital ‍hovered around ⁠0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) on Saturday morning. Authorities in Kyiv region, which surrounds the capital but does not ‌include it, ​said 320,000 households had lost ⁠power after the attack.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready”.

It comes as he’s set to meet Mr Trump in Florida over the weekend.

An “economic agreement” will also be discussed, he said, but he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalised by the end”.

The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues”, he said.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved”, but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.

“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the US are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.