Russia pounds Kyiv with drone strikes after Zelenskiy-Trump talks

By Daniel Flynn and Pavel Polityuk

KYIV, Sept ‌23 (Reuters) - Russia pounded Kyiv ​with drone ​strikes on Wednesday, hitting railway infrastructure, warehouses and fuel stations, just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met US President Donald Trump to discuss peace efforts.

At least two people were killed and more than 30 were ‌injured in the attack, which lasted for hours from the morning into early afternoon, officials said, ⁠in one of the heaviest strikes since Russia began hitting Kyiv and nearby areas with faster and high-flying jet drones that are harder to intercept.

Several explosions ‌were heard and smoke billowed above the ‌centre of the Ukrainian capital and other areas.

Zelenskiy said Russia had deployed many drones against the city, with a large number of them jet-powered.

"Russia continues to turn civilian and critical infrastructure into targets: pharmaceutical facilities, gas stations, railways, communications infrastructure, ​and shopping malls," he said on X.

A separate Russian aerial bomb attack killed at least four people and injured four others in a village in the frontline Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said on the Telegram messaging ⁠app.

Zelenskiy, who was due to address the UN General Assembly later on Wednesday, said it was important to keep up sanctions pressure on Moscow, including on Russian oligarchs.

In ​his meeting with Trump on Tuesday, Zelenskiy discussed a potential bilateral ceasefire on energy-related targets and asked for increased supplies of US Patriot air defence missiles to defend against an expected Russian ​winter campaign against Ukraine's electricity infrastructure. No agreements were reached, he said.

Zelenskiy ‌said he was ready for "any format" of an energy ceasefire with Moscow, as long as Russia halted its own attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin said the grounds for future peace talks ⁠with Ukraine were still not in place and there were no plans for any high-level meetings.

PETROL STATIONS HIT

"This is the view from the windows of the EU Delegation (in Kyiv) today. Buildings nearby are burning," Katarina Mathernova, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, said in a social media post.

The attacks ⁠largely targeted the neighbourhood near the main railway station, which Ukrainian railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia said had not been damaged.

Ukrzaliznytsia's head Oleksandr Pertsovskyi said railway ​infrastructure came under attack and one of its workers had been injured.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a drone hit a nine-storey non-residential building, as well as a business centre and warehouses.

Ukrainian oil company Ukrnafta said Russia hit one of its petrol stations in the capital, the sixth such ‌facility attacked in recent weeks.

In total, two petrol stations came under attack, authorities said. Reuters TV footage showed one of the heavily damaged stations on a busy highway.

Energy worker Mykola Nechypurenko, ‌one of a team repairing damage to the power network, was sceptical about the prospects for any energy ceasefire with Russia.

"I don't think they'll ⁠agree on anything. As long as the war ‌goes on, energy infrastructure remains under threat," ​said Nechypurenko, 55. "I don't believe it will work. Not until the war ends."

(Reporting by Daniel Flynn and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv, and Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; writing by Anna Pruchnicka; editing by Andrew Cawthorne ‌and Gareth Jones)

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