Russian Strikes Leave At Least 9 Killed As Kyiv Says West Gave No Warning
by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · JoinKYIV -- Deadly Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine pounded civilian and energy sites across the country, leaving hundreds of thousands without power despite a cease-fire previously announced by US President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian authorities said the strikes on October 14 killed at least three people in Kyiv, two in the country's southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, and at least six more in the western city of Lutsk. Dozens of others, including children, were injured.
"I never thought I would leave the country," Kyiv resident Lana told RFE/RL after a Russian missile struck a high-rise apartment building where she lives. "But for the sake of my [teenage] daughter...I will leave in the near future."
Other strikes on the Ukrainian capital targeted energy facilities. At least five districts were plunged into emergency power outages after a strike hit one of Kyiv's main power plants, energy company DTEK reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had used 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones in overnight attacks on Ukraine, adding at least 600,000 people were left without electricity, warning that such outages might become more widespread.
The attacks came days after Trump's announcement of an energy cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, which neither country said it had been informed of but which Kyiv largely supported.
"Russia has squandered the opportunity for de-escalation and has clearly chosen to continue its insane war of annihilation," Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X, accusing Russian forces of targeting 26 facilities in the country's power system.
"We ask America and EVERYONE in the world who does not turn a blind eye to reality to respond -- and to respond forcefully," he added.
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Separately, the Ukrainian president said Kyiv had once again received no advance warning from its Western partners about the Russian missile and drone launches. He added that Ukrainian forces were able to detect the first wave of attacks only when it was approaching Kyiv.
The issue appears to compound the country’s shortage of air-defense missiles, licenses for which Ukraine has been seeking to obtain from the United States in the hope of establishing its own production. Washington has been sending mixed signals about the potential deal.
Following the latest attacks, the EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, wrote in a post on X that "missing warning means missing time. Time to wake a child. To get downstairs. To reach a shelter."
"Ukraine needs air defense, interceptors and reliable early warnings. Every minute of warning can give someone a chance to survive," Mathernova added.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksander Novak also accused Ukraine of attacking Russia's two oil refineries in Saratov and Ryazan regions on October 14, saying Moscow saw "no indication that the Ukrainian side is moving toward an energy cease-fire."
As Russia has been continuing its relentless bombardment of Ukrainian regions, since the beginning of this year, Kyiv has increasingly responded with a campaign of its own. Its long-range strikes have been targeting Russian military and oil-refinery facilities in an effort to curb revenues for the invasion.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, however, denied Novak's accusation, saying Kyiv had struck a data center and another unnamed target in Russia but no refineries.
Days before, Trump demanded Kyiv "damn well stop" hitting Russian oil refineries amid a global energy shortage -- largely caused by the US war with Iran -- after announcing a deal allowing Russian diesel exports following a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The move sparked criticism from European allies and from Democrats and Republicans, who warned it could embolden Putin to continue his war against Ukraine.
In a letter to Trump, a bipartisan group of 12 senators urged him to withdraw from the diesel deal with Putin, calling it "a gift to our adversary" and "a betrayal of our Allies."
"Granting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine," the senators wrote in the letter.
Meanwhile, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, known for his pro-Western politics during his tenor in 2005-2010, addressed an open letter to Trump criticizing his deal with Putin on diesel fuel.
"When there is talk of 'concessions' or deals with Putin, the Kremlin's answer is more missiles, more drones, and more bloodshed. Ukrainian families pay the price," he wrote. "One does not negotiate with tyrants -- one stops them."
Russian Strikes Leave At Least 9 Killed As Kyiv Says West Gave No Warning
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