Russian airstrike kills six in Ukraine, hours after Trump bids for Putin talks

At least six people, including two children, have been killed in intense Russian drone and missile attacks on cities in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

A further 21 people were wounded, the second night’s attack proving that Moscow was not under enough pressure for its continued war.

Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump said he had scrapped plans for an upcoming summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Budapest because he didn’t want a “wasted meeting”.

The Kremlin has rejected calls for a ceasefire by Trump and European leaders in favor of the current front.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military said it attacked a Russian chemical plant on the Bryansk border late Tuesday with British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

Military officials said the Bryansk plant “produces gunpowder, explosives and rocket fuel components used in munitions and missiles used by the enemy to fire at Ukrainian territory”, military officials said, calling the attack a “successful hit” on Russian air defenses.

Zelensky, who was scheduled to visit Swedish defense contractor Saab on Wednesday, returned from talks with Trump last Friday. Failed to persuade US President to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles.

“As soon as the issue of long-range missiles became a bit distant for us, for Ukraine, almost automatically Russia lost interest in diplomacy,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian capital came under a wave of attacks overnight, the first of its kind since September 28.

A couple in their 60s were killed and four people were killed in the wider Kiev region after a drone struck their high-rise building in the city. The victims include a woman, a six-month-old baby and a 12-year-old girl.

The capital was under ballistic missile warning for most of the night and echoed with the sound of explosions. By morning, rescue teams extinguished the fire in residential buildings.

Across Ukraine, Russian attacks once again targeted energy infrastructure, causing emergency power outages in many areas.