KYIV, Ukraine, June  17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Russia launched dozens of drones
and missiles at Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least 10 people
and wounding dozens of others, as negotiations faltered between Kyiv and Moscow.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the latest overnight barrage as "one
of the most horrific attacks" on Kyiv since the Kremlin launched its brutal
invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.

Zelensky said a total of 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched in the
strikes nationwide and urged the international community not to "turn a blind
eye".

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin does this solely because he can afford
to continue the war. He wants the war to go on," he said.

AFP journalists saw smoke billowing over the capital's skyline at dawn and
a multiple-storey housing block gutted by the attack. Rescue workers were
scrambling to find any survivors buried beneath the rubble.

"It was probably the most hellish night in my memory for our
neighbourhood," 20-year-old student Alina Shtompel told AFP.

"It is indescribably painful that our people are going through this right
now."

More than three years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has
stepped up attacks despite efforts by the United States to broker a ceasefire.

Talks have stalled. Moscow has rejected the "unconditional" truce demanded
by Kyiv and its European allies, while Ukraine has dismissed Russia's demands
as "ultimatums".

- Diplomatic 'facade' -

Zelensky had been hoping to speak with US leader Donald Trump on the
sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, but the US leader cut short his visit,
amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

Russia hit some 27 sites in Kyiv overnight and some residents were left
without electricity, officials said.

"Twelve people have died as a result of Russian strikes on Ukraine
overnight. Ten of them were in Kyiv and two more were pulled from the rubble in
Odesa," Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said, revising down an earlier toll.

"During search and rescue operations, body parts may be found that are
initially recorded as separate fatalities. Final confirmation is provided by
forensic experts after analysis in a mobile DNA laboratory," he said,
explaining the revision.

The Russian defence ministry said it had carried out precision strikes on
"military-industrial facilities in the Kyiv region," in a statement similar to
those releases after major attacks.

Germany vowed in response to "increase the pressure" on Russia. The strike
showed that "Russia is using diplomacy merely as a facade," the foreign
ministry wrote on X.

"Putin doesn't want a solution, he wants capitulation."

- US citizen dead -

Dozens of residents took shelter in a metro station in central Kyiv,
sleeping on mats, exchanging information on attack or reassuring pets, AFP
journalists reported, while drones buzzed and explosions echoed out over the
city.

"I was asleep. There was a loud bang. The window was smashed, and glass
rained down on me," Sergii, another Kyiv resident, said.

Residential buildings, educational institutions and "critical
infrastructure facilities" were all hit, Interior Minister Klymenko said.

Kyiv's mayor reported earlier that a 62-year-old US citizen had died in a
Russian strike on the capital's Solomyansky district.

Shelling on the frontline Sumy and Kherson regions later in the day killed
two others, authorities said.

Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the new attacks showed
Moscow was "continuing its war against civilians".

Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia
invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to independent monitors and Western
intelligence agencies.

Russian forces have been steadily advancing across the sprawling front line
even since the inauguration of Trump brought about an uptick in US efforts to
secure a halt in fighting.