The Kremlin said Russia is striking Ukrainian “military and paramilitary infrastructure” as it defended its deadly overnight attacks on Kyiv. Russia also pointed the finger at Ukraine for strikes that have hit Russian civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian officials said at least 15 people had died in the Russian strikes overnight into Thursday, August 28, including four children.
The Associated Press said a five-story residential building was hit and nearly 100 buildings in total were damaged, including a shopping mall.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for new sanctions against Russia.
Strikes Risk Trump Ire
The strikes come as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for peace in Ukraine, urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with Zelensky and agree on a settlement that ends the war after his recent summits with the two leaders.
The Russian attacks risk Trump’s ire. He has threatened to take firmer action against Russia, likely in the form of painful secondary tariffs against Moscow’s trading partners, if it does not make peace with Ukraine quickly.
“The special military operation continues. You can see that strikes on Russian infrastructure also continue, and often on Russia’s civilian infrastructure, from the Kyiv regime,” Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told reporters of the Kyiv strikes, state news agency Tass reported.
“The Russian armed forces are also carrying out their tasks. As stated, they continue to hit military and paramilitary infrastructure. The strikes are successful, the targets are being destroyed,” Peskov said, originally in Russian.
Russia’s military had said in a Telegram post that it targeted “enterprises of the military-industrial complex and military air bases of Ukraine” during the attack.
Peskov added that Russia “maintains its interest in continuing the negotiation process in order to achieve the goals before us by political and diplomatic means.”
State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Zelensky: Russia Understands Strength and Pressure
Zelensky decried what he said was a “horrific and deliberate killing of civilians” in the Russian strikes on Kyiv, which had also damaged buildings belonging to the British Council and the European Union.
“The Russians are not choosing to end the war, only new strikes,” Zelensky said in a post on X. “It is crucial now that the world responds firmly. Russia must stop this war it started and continues. For the spurning of ceasefire and for the constant Russian attempts to weasel out of negotiations, new strong sanctions are needed. Only this can work.
“The Russians understand only strength and pressure. For every strike, Moscow must feel the consequences.”
Two Major Issues for Peace Deal
Peace negotiations are stalled on two major issues: the concession of Ukrainian territory to Russia and the future architecture of Ukraine’s security.
Russia has demanded recognition of the land its forces currently control in eastern Ukraine, which amounts to around a fifth of all Ukrainian territory, and that Kyiv also concede more territory that Moscow does not control. Kyiv has rejected this.
The Kremlin has also ruled out security guarantees for Ukraine that involve troops from NATO allies being deployed on the ground there, as proposed by Kyiv’s European allies, including the U.K., France and Germany.
Moscow says it invaded Ukraine to halt its ambitions to join NATO. Trump has said Ukraine cannot join the military alliance, saying it posed a major security threat to Russia. Ukraine accuses Russia of trampling over its sovereignty with an imperial war of conquest.
