Sawt Falasteen - Russian drone and missile barrage kills eight in Kyiv

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

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

Kyiv resident Natalia Marshavska, who was kept awake by the attack, described to AFP how the buzzing of one drone grew louder and louder until it was directly overheard.

"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 has used precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles to strike Ukrainian military facilities and claimed that "all the designated targets were destroyed."

- Zelensky visits UK -

Ukraine's interior minister Igor Klymenko said on state television that seven people were killed and 30 wounded in Kyiv and another person was left dead in Bila Tserkva just outside the capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 352 unmanned aerial vehicles -- including Iranian-designed drones -- and 16 missiles at Ukraine, adding that some of the munitions were provided to Moscow 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 with Ukraine's partners.

A senior Ukrainian source said Zelensky would meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and members of parliament.

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 coming back 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.

AFP journalists saw people sheltering in the basement of a residential building in the centre of Kyiv, waiting for the attack to end.

The attack gutted a multi-storey housing bloc, where rescue workers were clearing debris, AFP reporters at the scene said.

- 'Ordinary homes' hit -

"Rescuers are currently clearing the rubble and providing assistance wherever it is needed," Zelensky said.

He added that five "ordinary homes" had been damaged in the attack.

The latest strikes -- less than a week after another attack on Kyiv killed at least 28 people -- came after Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky vowed to intensify strikes on Russia.

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

Kyiv says the retaliatory strikes on military sites -- sometimes deep inside Russian territory -- are a fair response to Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians.

Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions as its own since launching its invasion in 2022 -- in addition to Crimea, which it captured 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.

B.Mahmoud--SF-PST