A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region has killed at least four people and wounded 15, regional officials have said.
Three of those injured in the attack overnight into Saturday are in a critical condition, with two undergoing surgery, regional administration chief Mykola Kalashnyk said.
The attack hit four districts of the Ukrainian capital, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, enterprises and critical infrastructure, he added in a social media post.
The strikes came days after the US postponed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled for this week, citing the war in the Middle East.
As US and Israeli missiles and bombs rain down on Iran, Russia has responded with words of indignation but no action to support its ally.
Moscow’s failure to help another ally, after the 2024 ousting of former Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and January’s US arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, highlighted the limits of its influence – but the Kremlin expects to reap benefits from the Iran war.
Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, and could hope the war will detract attention from its own operations in Ukraine and deplete Western arsenals.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday the 30-day US waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid the Iran war is “not the right decision” and will not help bring a stop to Russia’s now four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
“This easing alone by the United States could provide Russia with about 10 billion US dollars for the war,” he said.
“This certainly does not help peace.”
Earlier this week, Russian and Ukrainian officials both claimed gains in the conflict, with Ukraine saying it pushed Moscow’s forces back across places on the front line and the Kremlin insisting Russia’s invasion of its neighbour is making progress.
Meanwhile, Russia’s almost daily attacks on Ukrainian civilian areas have continued.