Ukraine Says Two Killed in Russian Strikes on Kyiv as Putin–Trump Summit Postponed

Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that two people were killed and several homes caught fire after Russian attacks targeted energy facilities in Kyiv overnight. The strikes came as Moscow rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire, prompting the postponement of a planned summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Tymur Takachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app that debris from intercepted weapons had fallen across the capital, sparking fires in nearly half of the city’s districts.

On Tuesday, the White House announced that it was putting the Putin–Trump meeting on hold after Russia dismissed Washington’s request for a temporary ceasefire. A senior U.S. official told Reuters that no new date for the summit has been set.

“Throughout the night, the enemy struck the country’s energy infrastructure,” Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said in a Telegram post. “A major assault is still underway.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said firefighters rescued ten people from a high-rise apartment building in the city’s Dniprovskyi district, where one body was recovered. Takachenko confirmed a second fatality from the attacks elsewhere in the city.

Blazes were also reported in the Pecherskyi, Desnianskyi, and Darnytskyi districts, authorities said. Pecherskyi district is home to the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a key symbol of Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural heritage.

Officials said the overnight assault involved a wave of ballistic missiles followed by drone attacks. Russia has not yet commented on the strikes.

Reuters witnesses reported hearing multiple explosions that appeared to be linked to Ukraine’s air defense operations. In the Kyiv region, a private home caught fire following a strike, injuring an elderly woman, according to local governor Mykola Kalashnyk.

Further south in the Zaporizhzhia region — an area that has faced sustained Russian bombardment — 13 people were injured in overnight shelling, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. In the central Poltava region, attacks damaged oil and gas facilities in the Myrhorod district, local officials reported.

Since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, claiming such sites are legitimate military objectives.

Tuesday’s nationwide assault killed four people and left millions without electricity — and many without water — in what Kyiv described as Moscow’s latest attempt to cripple Ukraine’s energy grid ahead of winter.