Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has criticised the United States for what he described as inadequate support for Ukraine after Russian attacks killed 78 people and injured another 215 nationwide over two days.
The latest wave of strikes included a Russian bomb attack on the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Thursday, when at least 35 people were reportedly killed after two buses were hit.
Following the incident, Zelenskiy accused Washington of prioritising economic engagement with Moscow while attempting to negotiate an end to the war, which has continued for more than four years.
Authorities subsequently reported another drone strike in Kramatorsk that killed two people, with the reported death toll in the city standing at 35.
Elsewhere, Russian guided bombs killed two people in a village in southeastern Dnipropetrovsk, while another person lost their life in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.
The attacks came a day after a large-scale Russian drone and missile assault killed dozens of people across Ukraine, including 22 residents of a residential building in Pryluky, about 130 kilometres east of Kyiv.
Addressing reporters in Pryluky on Thursday evening, Zelenskiy said Russian attacks over the preceding two days had claimed 78 lives and left 215 people injured across the country.
The Ukrainian president also called on Washington to broaden Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite network, arguing that the service could assist Ukrainian forces in locating and targeting Russian ballistic-missile launchers.
“Open Starlink for Ukraine. You did open it when you were responding to Iran,” Zelenskiy said, urging the United States to help Ukraine protect its airspace and improve its military capabilities.
He maintained that such support would strengthen Ukraine’s ability to repel Russian attacks and pressure President Vladimir Putin to enter negotiations.
Ukraine has been seeking to improve its position on the battlefield in recent months, as Russian territorial advances have slowed this year. However, Moscow has sustained an intensifying aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.
Zelenskiy also challenged Washington’s position after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier on Thursday that the conflict had reached a stalemate and that the United States would continue pursuing a negotiated settlement.
The Ukrainian leader argued that Washington’s efforts to explore potential economic ventures with Russia were inconsistent with its assessment of the diplomatic situation.
His comments followed a Reuters report that senior Russian and American officials, including US Special Envoy Jared Kushner, had discussed the possibility of bringing an American investor into the Nord Stream pipeline projects. The pipelines transported Russian gas to Germany before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy said Ukrainian negotiators would travel to the United States on Friday and Saturday for further talks, while urging US President Donald Trump to intensify sanctions against Russia.
He added that Kyiv hoped its European partners would participate in the discussions. Ukrainian officials also planned to seek further air defence assistance as Russia continued its bombardment.
The strike on Kramatorsk, which injured 20 people, was described as one of Russia’s largest individual attacks of the year. Moscow has denied deliberately targeting civilians, although its forces have repeatedly carried out missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin accused Russian forces of deliberately targeting civilians, saying buses transporting passengers had been hit.
Images released by officials showed bodies on a street covered in debris, beside the charred remains of a bus. Zelenskiy said some of the victims had not yet been identified and warned that Ukraine would respond to the attack.
Separately, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital early Thursday killed four people and injured 19 others.
The attacks also disrupted water and electricity supplies in Kyiv, with officials warning that restoring services would take time.
Russia has carried out repeated drone strikes on Kyiv in recent weeks, targeting warehouses and data centres while intensifying attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of winter.
Meanwhile, Russian technology company Yandex said it was still evaluating whether equipment at a data centre damaged by a Ukrainian drone strike could be recovered.
Although Zelenskiy did not directly comment on the reported strike involving Yandex, he said Ukraine was responding to Russian attacks on data centres.
Goodness Anunobi
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