Zelensky slams US’ lack of response to Putin truce rejection
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A handout image showing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting with British and French military chiefs in Kyiv.
PHOTO: AFP
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KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 6 lamented the lack of a US response to Russia’s refusal to agree to “a full, unconditional ceasefire” as two people were killed in Moscow’s latest aerial bombardment.
Russia mounted a “massive” missile and drone attack on Ukraine that also wounded seven people, Mr Zelensky said, warning that Moscow was stepping up its aerial attacks.
Ukraine has agreed to an unconditional truce in the more than three year-long war proposed by the US but Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to do so.
“We are waiting for the United States to respond – so far, there has been no response,” said Mr Zelensky.
Russia claimed the capture of a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region in a rare cross-border advance, but Ukraine branded that as “disinformation”.
Earlier, Russia “launched a massive nationwide attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones”, said Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
Mr Zelensky said “the number of Russian air attacks is increasing”, which he said proved that “the pressure on Russia is still insufficient”.
In Kyiv, explosions were heard in the night and smoke rose up from the city on the morning of April 6.
One person was killed and three people were wounded, the head of the city’s military administration, Mr Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on social media.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said “the body of a man killed in an enemy attack was discovered in Darnytsia district”.
‘Strong action’ needed
A missile strike partially destroyed a building housing state foreign-language broadcasters, the Russian-language Freedom television channel reported, saying that its newsroom had been destroyed.
Emergency services said fires broke out in non-residential buildings in Kyiv. In a nearby region, a man was burned when an attack sparked a house fire, the head of the military administration said.
Ukrainian rescuers working at the site of a rocket hit in Kyiv, on April 6.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Russia attacked Ukraine with 23 cruise and ballistic missiles and 109 drones during the night, the Ukrainian air force said.
The air force said it shot down 13 of the missiles and 40 drones while 54 others caused no damage.
In the southern Kherson region, a drone killed a 59-year-old man, while in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, near the border with Russia, two people were wounded in an aerial bomb attack, regional officials said.
In the western region of Khmelnytsky, the authorities said air defences destroyed a missile but falling fragments damaged a house and wounded a woman.
Over the past week, Russia has launched more than 1,460 guided aerial bombs, nearly 670 attack drones and over 30 missiles of various types on Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said troops “liberated” the village of Basivka, close to the border with Russia’s Kursk region. Ukraine quickly rejected the report.
Mr Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, told AFP: “The enemy continues its disinformation campaign regarding the seizure of settlements in Sumy region or the breakthrough of the border.”
Cars on a road as smoke rose in the distance, following the Russian missile attack, in Kyiv on April 6.
PHOTO: AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron echoed Mr Zelensky’s calls
“A ceasefire is needed as soon as possible. And strong action if Russia continues to try to buy time and refuse peace,” Mr Macron said on social media platform X on April 6.
Russia continues “to murder children and civilians”, he added.
The latest attacks came two days after a missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig killed 18 people including nine children.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk denounced Russia’s “reckless disregard” for human life in using “an explosive weapon with wide area effects”.
Russia on April 6 said it had struck a central artillery base and enterprises involved in producing drones.
It accused Ukraine of striking its energy infrastructure including a gas distribution facility in the Voronezh region.
US President Donald Trump is pushing the two sides to agree on a partial ceasefire, but has so far failed to broker an accord acceptable to both sides.
The US is also seeking better ties with Russia. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, in an interview with state television, said the next US-Russian contact could be “next week”, reported Russian news agencies.
Mr Dmitriev last week became the most senior Russian official to visit Washington since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. AFP
