Sawt Falasteen - Russia launches deadly barrage on Kyiv region on eve of NATO summit

The assault was the second on the capital and its surroundings in less than a week and came as both sides increased long-range attacks, underlining the growing reach of the war more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky are expected to discuss the war on the sidelines of the summit in the Turkish capital Ankara, which begins Tuesday.

After that, Trump plans to speak with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as Washington seeks to revive stalled peace efforts.

An AFP journalist in Kyiv heard more than 10 explosions during a ballistic missile alert early Monday. Around 30 minutes later, AFP journalists saw several flashes in the sky as another series of blasts rang out.

"The enemy is striking with ballistic missiles," Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv region's military administration, wrote on Telegram.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that air defences were in operation and urged people to remain in shelters.

The attack caused four fires to break out, all in residential buildings, Tkachenko said.

"Places where people were simply sleeping tonight," he added.

Seven people were killed in Kyiv, and one in Bucha district northwest of the capital, authorities said, while at least 34 were wounded in Kyiv and its surrounding areas.

"There are no words that can ease this pain," Tkachenko said.

Ukraine has increasingly targeted energy facilities inside Russia in recent weeks in an effort to weaken the Kremlin's war effort.

It has also struck at Moscow-controlled territory in Ukraine that predates the current invasion.

In Russian-annexed Crimea, governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said a Ukrainian strike near Sevastopol had temporarily cut electricity supplies.

"Following an enemy attack on energy infrastructure near Sevastopol, our city was temporarily left without electricity," Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram.

Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on state-backed Max that several waves of drones bound for the Russian capital were shot down by Russian air defences.

- Diplomacy and fighting -

The White House said Trump would meet Zelensky on Wednesday during the NATO summit.

"The president's obviously getting together with him to talk about how we can end the war. That's been a priority of his for a long time," a senior US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said Trump would then "follow up" with Putin.

The meetings come with diplomatic efforts to end the war largely stalled.

Zelensky said Sunday that Ukrainian troops were continuing to fight for the strategic eastern town of Kostyantynivka, a gateway to key positions in the Donetsk region.

Russia claimed Friday to have captured the town, but Kyiv dismissed the announcement as "a lie".

"Fighting is also continuing for Kostyantynivka, which (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin has already claimed as his own, but it is obvious that he will never dare to appear there," Zelensky said in a nightly address.

He also warned that Moscow was preparing fresh large-scale attacks ahead of the NATO summit.

Both Putin and Zelensky held separate phone calls with Trump on Saturday to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.

A.AlHaj--SF-PST