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KYIV, Ukraine, June 23, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Russia fired dozens of drones and 
missiles at Ukraine on Monday, ripping open a housing bloc in Kyiv, killing 
10 civilians and burying others beneath the rubble.

A flurry of diplomatic efforts to end the three-year-long war have stalled, 
with the last direct meeting between Kyiv and Moscow coming almost three 
weeks ago and no follow-up talks scheduled.

AFP journalists heard drones over the capital and explosions ringing out 
during the barrage.

Kyiv resident Natalia Marshavska was awake during the attack and described 
how the buzzing of a drone grew louder until it was directly overhead.

"I realised it was right above us. And then there was an explosion -- all in 
a matter of seconds," she told AFP.

The blast threw her across the room and shattered the windows in her flat 
before smoke began billowing everywhere, she said.

"It was horrible."

The Russian army said it had used precision weapons and unmanned aerial 
vehicles to strike Ukrainian military facilities. 

"All the designated targets were destroyed," it claimed.

- Zelensky visits UK -

Prosecutors in Kyiv said nine people were killed in the capital's 
Shevchenkivsky district, including an 11-year-old girl. Another person was 
killed in Bila Tserkva just outside the capital, officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had launched 352 unmanned 
aerial vehicles -- including Iranian-designed drones -- and 16 missiles at 
Ukraine, adding that some of the munitions were provided by North Korea.

"Everyone in countries neighbouring Russia, Iran and North Korea should be 
thinking carefully about whether they could protect lives if this coalition 
of murderers persists and continues spreading their terror," he added.

He landed in the United Kingdom -- one of Kyiv's staunchest allies -- on 
Monday for a surprise visit, where he said he would be discussing defence 
issues and sanctions on Russia.

Zelensky met with Britain's King Charles III at Windsor Castle and a 
Ukrainian source also said that he would meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The visit comes ahead of a NATO summit later this week in The Hague. 

Zelensky is set to attend on the sidelines but his involvement is being kept 
to a minimum to avoid a confrontation with US President Donald Trump.

Since returning to office, Trump has upended the West's approach towards 
Russia's war on Ukraine by undercutting Kyiv and opening the door to closer 
ties with Moscow.

The latest strikes came less than a week after another attack on Kyiv killed 
at least 28 people.

Separate Russian attacks on Monday in the southern Odesa region left two 
people killed and another dozen wounded, local authorities said.

Zelensky said a school was hit.

"Sadly, some people may still be trapped under the rubble," he added.

In Moscow, the defence ministry said its air defence systems had downed 23 
Ukrainian drones over western regions of Russia.

Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and claims to have annexed four 
Ukrainian regions since invading in 2022. It captured Ukraine's Crimea 
peninsula in 2014.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging a peace deal in order to 
prolong its full-scale offensive and to seize more territory.