Sawt Falasteen - Deadly Russian attack kills 15 in Kyiv, raising fears for peace talks

Russia has rained down aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities despite US President Donald Trump's push for a ceasefire and even as it talks up the importance of ending the war, started by its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The attack -- one of the deadliest on Kyiv -- blasted a five-storey crater in one apartment block, ripping the building in two.

AFP reporters saw rescuers carrying victims away in body bags as they sifted through the smouldering rubble.

Heavy construction machinery was deployed to scoop up mounds of debris. Officials warned that several people were believed to be still trapped under the collapsed building.

"Glass was flying ... we were screaming when the bombs went off," Galina Shcherbak, who was at a parking lot close to one of the strikes, told AFP.

Ukraine's air force said Moscow fired 629 drones and missiles. That would make it the second-largest overnight barrage of the war, according to AFP analysis of Kyiv's data.

Andriy, whose flat was destroyed in the strike, told AFP that he had only just made it out alive.

"If I had gone to the shelter a minute later, I would not be here now, I would have been buried."

"I came out, could not hear anything, there was fog everywhere, and my left eye was completely covered in blood."

- 'Diplomacy ruined' -

Zelensky called the attack "a horrific and deliberate killing of civilians".

"The Russians are not choosing to end the war, only new strikes," he said on social media, calling for Moscow to face fresh sanctions.

"For the spurning of ceasefire and for the constant Russian attempts to weasel out of negotiations, new strong sanctions are needed," he added.

"All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined. Russia must feel accountable for every strike, for every day of this war," he said.

The Kremlin, which claimed to have targeted military sites, insisted it was still interested in diplomacy, but that its strikes on Ukraine would "continue".

"The Russian armed forces are fulfilling their tasks," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question by AFP.

"They continue to strike military and military-adjacent infrastructure facilities.

"At the same time, Russia remains interested in continuing the negotiation process. The aim is to achieve our goals through political and diplomatic means," he added.

The EU summoned Russia's ambassador after the overnight barrage damaged its delegation offices in Kyiv.

EU officials posted photos of blown-out windows and the office ceiling partially collapsed.

The British Council also said its premises had been "severely damaged" and would be closed until further notice.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of "sabotaging hopes of peace" with the strikes.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Russian "terror and barbarism".

"This is Russia's idea of peace," he said in a post on X.

- Stuttering diplomacy -

Following a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump in Alaska earlier this month, the Kremlin has rebuffed initiatives for a swift end to the fighting, including pressure for a Zelensky-Putin meeting.

Moscow is demanding Kyiv cede more territory and renounce Western military support as conditions for any peace deal -- ultimatums ruled out by Kyiv.

Putin has rejected multiple ceasefire calls from Zelensky, Trump and European leaders.

Ukraine has long cast Russia as only paying lip service to the idea of halting its invasion.

Before concluding any peace agreement, Ukraine wants security guarantees -- including Western troop deployments -- to deter any future Russian attacks.

Moscow has pushed back against the prospect of a Western military presence in Ukraine.

Kyiv meanwhile said it had hit two large refineries in Russia in its own overnight attacks -- strikes it calls fair retaliation.

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST