KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� Russia fired at least 800 drones in a massive daytime barrage on about 20 regions of Ukraine on Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, including children, in one of the longest attacks by Moscow in the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The attack began in midmorning and lasted for hours in the capital of Kyiv, the western city of Lviv near Poland, and the port of Odesa on the Black Sea, among other population centers, on the Telegram messaging app.
鈥淥ur soldiers are defending Ukraine, but Russia鈥檚 obvious goal is to overload air defenses,鈥� Zelenskyy said, as the bombardment stretched into the late afternoon. He cautioned that a cruise and ballistic missile attack could follow the drone barrage.
It was 鈥渙ne of the longest, massive Russian attacks against Ukraine,鈥� he said on social media.
It also rattled neighbors. Hungarian Prime Minister P茅ter Magyar said his new government has summoned the Russian ambassador over a drone attack near Hungary鈥檚 border, in a significant shift from his predecessor Viktor Orb谩n’s friendly relations with Moscow.
鈥淭he Hungarian government strongly condemns the Russian attack on Transcarpathia,鈥� Magyar told journalists, adding that Foreign Minister Anita Orb谩n will speak with the ambassador Thursday morning.
The foreign minister will ask 鈥渨hen Russia and Vladimir Putin plan to finally end this bloody war,鈥� Magyar added.
鈥淭hank you for your compassion and strong position!鈥� Zelenskyy said on X after Magyar鈥檚 comments.
Three people are killed in a region near Kyiv
Drone debris fell in an open area in Kyiv鈥檚 Obolonskyi district with no casualties, city officials said, as air defense systems engaged Russian drones over the capital. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency services responded to the scene. Explosions were heard across the city earlier Wednesday.
Three people were killed in a drone attack in the Rivne region west of Kyiv, according to Oleksandr Koval, head of the regional military administration.
Moscow鈥檚 attacks are unrelenting, even as Ukraine is emboldened by its recent military accomplishments and as and Russian President Vladimir Putin said 鈥� without providing evidence 鈥� that the war could be approaching an end.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said, 14 Ukrainian regions came under attack, followed by overnight strikes on Ukraine鈥檚 residential, energy and railway infrastructure.
鈥淚t is important to support Ukraine and not remain silent about Russia鈥檚 war. Every time the war disappears from the top of the news, it encourages Russia to become even more savage,鈥� Zelenskyy said, apparently referring to the world’s attention being focused on the .
Trump and Putin talk of a possible end to the war
Trump said Tuesday said he believes Moscow and Kyiv will soon reach a deal to end fighting.
鈥淭he end of the war in Ukraine I really think is getting very close,鈥� Trump said as he left the White House for a 鈥淏elieve it or not, it鈥檚 getting closer.鈥�
Putin said in a speech last weekend that his invasion of Ukraine is possibly 鈥渃oming to an end.鈥�
Neither leader elaborated on what persuaded them about the possibility of peace in Europe鈥檚 longest conflict since World War II. over the past year to end the war have fizzled after making no progress on , such as whether Russia gets to keep Ukrainian land it has seized and what can be done to deter Moscow from invading again.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated Wednesday that Moscow鈥檚 fundamental terms are unchanged, with Putin insisting that Ukraine pull its troops from the four regions 鈥� Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia 鈥� that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 but hasn’t fully captured.
鈥淎t that point, a ceasefire will be established, and the parties can calmly engage in negotiations, which, incidentally, will inevitably be very complex and involve a lot of important details,鈥� Peskov said.
Zelenskyy vowed to keep pressure on Moscow to make concessions in talks.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not giving up on diplomatic efforts, and we hope that pressure on Russia, together with negotiations in different formats, will help bring peace,鈥� he said in a speech Wednesday in Bucharest, Romania, to representatives of countries on NATO’s eastern flank.
鈥淪anctions are working, our long-range (drone and missile) capabilities are working, and every form of pressure is working,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, European governments are assessing the merits of opening talks with Putin. Europe has for years tried to isolate the Russian leader and punished his country with international sanctions.
Fighting appears to shift in Ukraine’s favor
The correlation of forces in the war has shifted in recent months. Ukraine has gone from pleading for international help with its defense to on how to counter attacks, thanks to its domestically developed .
Ukraine鈥檚 long-range drone and missile attacks energy facilities and manufacturing deep inside Russia, with three regions reporting strikes Wednesday. The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces intercepted and destroyed 286 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Azov Sea and the Black Sea.
On the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line, the advance of Russia鈥檚 bigger and better-equipped army has been slowing every month since October, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Russia鈥檚 spring offensive has floundered, with Russian forces recording a net loss of territory last month for the first time since 2024, the Washington-based think tank said.
鈥淣ot only are Ukrainian defensive lines holding, but Ukrainian forces have managed to contest the tactical initiative in several areas of the front line even as Russia continues to lose disproportionate amounts of manpower to achieve minimal gains,鈥� the ISW said Tuesday.
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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Sam McNeil in Brussels and Bela Szandelzsky in Budapest, Hungary, contributed,
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