The Japan Times - Russian strikes cut heat to Kyiv, mayor calls for temporary evacuation

Four people were killed in the capital in a massive missile and drone attack that ripped open apartment blocks and also saw Moscow fire its feared Oreshnik ballistic missile at a gas facility in western Ukraine.

The barrage came hours after Moscow rejected a plan by Kyiv and its Western allies to deploy peacekeeping forces to Ukraine in the event of any ceasefire in the war nearing its four-year mark.

AFP journalists in Kyiv saw residents running for shelter as the air raid siren echoed and heard Russian drones exploding into residential buildings and missiles whistling over the capital.

"A clear reaction from the world is needed. Above all from the United States, whose signals Russia truly pays attention to," President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media as rescuers sifted through the rubble of widespread damage in the capital.

"Russia must receive signals that it is its obligation to focus on diplomacy, and must feel consequences every time it again focuses on killings and the destruction of infrastructure," he added.

Zelensky said 20 residential buildings in Kyiv had been damaged, adding that a Russian drone had damaged the Qatari embassy building.

Around half of all apartment blocks in the capital were left without heat due to "due to damage to the capital's critical infrastructure caused by a massive enemy attack," Klitschko said.

He called on "residents of the capital who have the opportunity to temporarily leave the city for places with alternative sources of power and heat to do so."

- Russia fires rarely-used missile -

Authorities in Kyiv announced four people were killed -- including a medic who died at a building that was struck in a repeat attack -- and that 24 people were wounded.

The barrage is just the latest to batter Ukraine as diplomats wrangle for a breakthrough in what has been Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, has pressed forward with its assault, bombarding Ukraine daily.

Moscow's defence ministry said it had used the Oreshnik ballistic missile on "strategic targets" -- only the second time the new weapon, which the Kremlin says is impossible to stop, is known to have been used.

Ukrainian authorities said a ballistic missile travelling "at about 13,000 kilometres (8,000 miles) per hour" had struck an "infrastructure facility" near the western city of Lviv.

Zelensky later confirmed Russia had fired the Oreshnik missile.

Unverified videos on social media showed loud blasts and a series of bright bursts of light at the purported site of the attack shortly before midnight.

The regional military administration said afterwards that radiation levels were within normal range.

Sybiga said the attack so near the border with EU and NATO member Poland posed a threat to Europe and was a "test" for Ukraine's allies.

Kyiv's air force said Russian forces had launched 36 missiles and 242 drones of various types, adding that its air defence systems had downed 226 drones and 18 missiles.

Across the border in Russia's Belgorod, the governor said more than half a million people were without power or heating after a Ukrainian attack targeted the region's utilities.

- ' Quite far' from any deal -

While Zelensky has said an agreement between Kyiv and Washington for US security guarantees was "essentially ready for finalisation", German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged a ceasefire deal was still "quite far" given Russia's position.

In its first response after a summit in Paris, Russia called the plan "dangerous" and "destructive".

Key territorial issues also appear unresolved.

Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, has insisted on full control of the Donbas region as part of any settlement, a term Kyiv rejects.

K.Hashimoto--JT