Russia bombards Kyiv:U.S.-Russian talks at which Washington voiced frustration with Moscow over the war.

KYIV/ROME () – Russia unleashed heavy airstrikes on Ukraine on Thursday before a conference in Rome at which Kyiv won billions of dollars in aid pledges, and U.S.-Russian talks at which Washington voiced frustration with Moscow over the war.

Ukrainian officials said Kyiv was the main target of the intense overnight bombardment, which killed at least two people and wounded 25 others, according to local officials. A cloud of smoke was left hanging over the city on Thursday morning.

In the attack, Russia launched 18 missiles and around 400 drones on Ukraine during a “massive combined strike” that lasted for nearly 10 hours, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine posted on social media on Thursday.
The assault also sparked fires in a half-dozen neighborhoods, according to the local authorities in Kyiv. An outpatient hospital in the Podil neighborhood was heavily damaged, according to local authorities. Timur Tkachenko, Kyiv’s military governor, said residential buildings, cars and warehouses were burning.

Later on Thursday, Mr. Zelensky addressed top European officials at the opening ceremony of a conference in Rome focused on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction.

Mr. Zelensky said Russia had “prepared for this meeting” in Rome by pummeling Ukraine overnight, with attacks of the sort that could spook investors.

“Ukrainians now face attacks by hundreds of these drones every single night,” Mr. Zelensky told the crowd, which included the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany.

He urged those gathered to increase investment in Ukraine’s defense capabilities — both to help protect the country now and to lay the groundwork for rebuilding once the war is over.