Ukrainian president calls for new sanctions on Russia as Kyiv comes under intense attack

A huge attack overnight on Ukraine by Russian drones and ballistic missiles was a fresh demonstration that Moscow is blocking a ceasefire deal to end the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday.

“It was a tough night for all of Ukraine,” Zelenskiy wrote on the social media platform Telegram.

“Only additional sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire,” he wrote.

Ukraine’s capital came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack early Saturday, with explosions and machine gun fire heard throughout the city, forcing many Kyiv residents to take shelter in underground subway stations.

The nighttime Russian attack came hours after Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange, swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians in the first phase of an exchange that was agreed on by the two sides at a meeting in Istanbul last week. The agreement was a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.

By morning, the Kyiv city military administration reported damage in six districts of the Ukrainian capital, and a total so far of 14 people wounded.

Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had fired 14 ballistic missiles at targets across Ukraine overnight and launched 250 long-range drones, with Kyiv the main target.

There was no immediate comment from Russia on the overnight attacks.