London – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine called on Western partners to apply more pressure to Russia after a ballistic missile overnight and drone killed at least one person and set more fires in the capital Kyiv.
“Apartment buildings, office buildings and civil infrastructure were damaged,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “All of our services work on earth, help people and remove the consequences of this terror.”
“Unfortunately, a person is now dead in Kiev,” he added. “Four more were injured, including a child. My condolance to family and friends.”
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Six out of seven ballistic missiles fired against Kyiv and the central city of Kryvyi Rih – Zelenskyy’s hometown. The air defense said Russia also launched 123 strike drones in Ukraine, 71 of which were shot down and 40 were lost during flight.
A damaged office building is seen after a Russian drone and missile attack that killed a person and wounded others in Kiev, Ukraine, on February 12, 2025.
Alex Babenko/AP
Viacheslav Chaus, the governor of Ukraine’s Chernihiv Oblast, said two people were injured in a Russian drone strike on a critical infrastructure facility. Serhiy Lysak, Governor of the DNIPROPROVSK regional military administration, said the missile attack on Kryvyi RIH damaged infrastructure, high -rise buildings housing, administrative and educational buildings.
Zelenskyy called on Western partners to apply greater pressure to Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to the latest strikes, which came as both sides maneuver for an expected resuscitation in peace talks after almost three years of war on a full scale.
“This Russian terror against Ukraine doesn’t stop on their own,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Putin is not preparing for peace – he continues to kill Ukrainians and destroy cities.”
“Only strong steps and pressure on Russia can stop this terror,” said the Ukrainian leader. “Right now we need the unity and support of all our partners in the fight for a straight end to this war.”
The latest barrier came just hours after Steve Witkoff – President Donald Trump’s Middle East – flew to Moscow to facilitate the release of imprisoned American Mark Fogel. Fogel, 63, had atoned a 14-year-old prison sentence in a Russian prison colony after being arrested in 2021 due to drug fees.
Trump later told journalists that he believed that Fogel’s return could promote the negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. “I want the war to end,” Trump said.
Moscow has continued nocturnal drone and missile attacks in front of potentially important meetings between US and Ukrainian officials this week.
This distribution photo released by the Ukrainian relief shows a Ukrainian rescuer working to extinguish a fire on the site of a drone and missile attack in Kiev on February 12, 2025.
Distribution/Ukrainian emergency/AFP
Trump’s Russia-Ukraine-Eding Keith Kellogg is due in Ukraine this week, while Vice President JD Vance is ready to travel to Munich’s security conference next weekend, with Zelenskyy being leading Ukraine’s delegation.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the counter-shifting center, which operates as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that “any public statement from the West about ‘progress’ in the movement against peace is accompanied by missile attacks by Russian Federation.”
Kovalenko suggested that Putin continued to use such tactics through 2025. “These are methods of diplomacy that are tightly intertwined with the front,” he wrote.
Ukraine also continues its long -term campaign to Russia. The Ministry of Defense in Moscow said on Telegram on Wednesday that it set up seven Ukrainian drones over the Western Belgorod and Kursk regions over the previous 24 hours.
ABC News’ Joe Simetti and Max Uzol contributed to this report.
