By Antonia Langford

 

KYIV, 27 Dec. - (ANA) - A huge Russian combined missile and drone attack has left hundreds of thousands of people in Kyiv without power, just hours before Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet Donald Trump.

 

Apartment blocks and houses were struck, and a third of Ukraine’s capital has been left without heating, as temperatures drop below zero degrees.

 

One person was killed and more than 20 were injured, including two children, as 500 drones and 40 missiles rained down on seven districts, according to Mykola Kalashnyk, the Kyiv regional governor.

 

Rzeszow ​and Lublin ⁠airports in southeastern Poland ​were temporarily ‍closed after the Polish armed ‌forces scrambled ‌fighter jets to protect their own airspace.

 

The combined attack saw Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, Iskander ballistic missiles and Kalibr cruise missiles used alongside drones, according to monitoring channels.

 

320,000 people had their heating and electricity knocked out, Mr Kalashnyk said.

 

2,600 residential buildings, 187 nurseries and 138 schools were also left without power.

 

“If Russia turns even the Christmas and New Year period into a time of destroyed homes and burned ‍apartments, of ruined power plants, then this ⁠sick activity ‌can ‍only be responded to with truly ‍strong steps,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X.

 

On Saturday, he will join a call with European leaders, EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen and Mr Trump. On Sunday, he will be in Mar-a-Lago for a face-to-face meeting with the US president at 8pm UK time.

 

Mr Zelensky said that he would speak to Mr Trump about “certain issues that we can only discuss at the leaders’ level”, including the status of Ukraine’s Donbas region and the future ownership of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

 

“Putin deliberately ordered a massive bombing of residential areas and critical infrastructure of Kyiv just as leaders of Ukraine and the US are preparing to meet and advance peace,” Andrii Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, wrote on X.

 

On Friday, Mr Zelensky said 90 per cent of a plan to end the almost four-year war had been concluded between US and Ukrainian negotiators.

 

But the US president appeared lukewarm about the prospect of a peace deal being agreed on Sunday, telling Politico: “He doesn’t have anything until I approve it. So we’ll see what he’s got.”

 

Mr Trump added that he expects to speak with Vladimir Putin “soon, as much as I want” to review the new 20-point deal.

 

Meanwhile, Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, said on state television on Friday that “Kyiv and its sponsors” had “stepped up efforts to torpedo [the agreement]”.

 

Mr Ryabkov raised concerns that the proposal drawn up by Mr Zelensky “differs radically” from points initially agreed upon by Russian and US officials which were described by European and Ukrainian officials as amounting to Kyiv’s capitulation.

 

Mr Zelensky insists that any decisions made during the high-level talks would have to be put to a public vote because he did not have the power to force through a peace deal.

 

The nationwide referendum would be like Brexit, Mr Zelensky said – except on a tighter timeline and in a war-torn country.

 

Mr Zelensky said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s peace negotiators, were prepared to travel to the country to promote the benefits of any deal. He also challenged Mr Trump to make his first visit to Ukraine to make his case for any peace pact.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/27 December 2025 - - -