KYIV — Russian strikes across Ukraine killed at least seven people Wednesday, including two in Kyiv, as Moscow ruled out a pause in the war and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his forces would target Russian energy facilities this winter.
Kyiv officials said Russian attacks wounded more than 40 people and damaged gas stations, offices, a college building, businesses and railway infrastructure. The strikes also disrupted internet service for about 100,000 households.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the UN Security Council that Russia would not agree to a “pause” in the fighting. He accused European countries of seeking a halt to the war to allow Ukraine to receive more weapons.
Zelensky, speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, said Ukraine would retaliate against Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.
“Ukrainians understand that this winter could be very harsh for us, but in response we will have no choice but to make it painful for Russia too,” Zelensky said.
He also criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of continuing the war instead of focusing on governing Russia.
Russian forces have increased the frequency of strikes across the Kyiv region, according to an analysis of figures from the ACLED conflict monitor. The region recorded 118 Russian strike incidents during the first 18 days of September, compared with 174 during the entire month of March 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
AFP reporters in Kyiv reported seeing smoke across the city and hearing air-defense explosions as commuters traveled to work.
Elsewhere, at least four people died, including a child, when a residential building came under attack in Oleksandrivka, west of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donbas region.
In the Black Sea port of Odesa, a Russian strike killed the captain of a cargo ship sailing under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, according to regional officials.
Turkey’s IMEAK Chamber of Shipping said attacks have hit at least 226 civilian and commercial vessels in the Black Sea since the start of the conflict. It said 163 of those attacks occurred during the first eight months of this year and called on Russia and Ukraine to stop targeting civilian ships.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was urging both sides to stop attacks on energy targets. US President Donald Trump also invited Putin to attend the G20 summit in Miami in December.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its latest attacks targeted a warehouse and businesses involved in producing military drones in the Kyiv region. It also reported strikes on similar facilities in the Odesa region and on a vessel carrying military cargo.
