Russia Hammers Ukraine Amid Summit     05/14 06:04

   A massive Russian drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine that began before 
dawn Thursday demolished an apartment block in Kyiv, the capital city where 
four people were killed and 33 wounded, authorities said. Other cities across 
the country also reported damage and casualties.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- A massive Russian drone and missile bombardment of 
Ukraine that began before dawn Thursday demolished an apartment block in Kyiv, 
the capital city where four people were killed and 33 wounded, authorities 
said. Other cities across the country also reported damage and casualties.

   Russia fired ballistic and cruise missiles in the mass attack, Ukrainian 
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that Moscow had launched more than 
1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers since the start of Wednesday.

   Thursday was the third straight day that Russia hammered Ukraine with 
large-scale aerial attacks following a May 9-11 ceasefire that U.S. President 
Donald Trump said he asked Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to 
heed. Fighting continued over those 72 hours, although reportedly at a reduced 
intensity.

   Russia appeared to be flexing its military muscle in a show of force with 
its latest aerial onslaughts on Ukraine. Its attacks undercut recent 
suggestions from Trump and Putin that the more than four-year war, which began 
with Moscow's all-out invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, is nearing its 
end.

   Ukrainian officials noted that the attack coincided with Trump's trip to 
China for a summit. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the 
bombardment proved that Moscow posed a threat to the international security 
that Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are trying to secure.

   "At the very time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in 
Beijing, and the world hopes for peace, predictability and cooperation, Putin 
launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of 
Ukraine," Sybiha wrote on X.

   "Only pressure on Moscow can make him stop," Sybiha said of Putin, adding 
that U.S. and Chinese leaders had sufficient leverage to compel Russia to end 
the war.

   A Kyiv apartment block collapses

   As dawn broke on a clear day in Kyiv, a scene of grim devastation came into 
focus in the city's Darnytsia neighborhood. Wisps of smoke rose from the debris 
of the collapsed nine-story corner apartment block. Emergency workers dug under 
concrete slabs that had collapsed and took people away on gurneys.

   Officials said all the block's 18 apartments were destroyed.

   More than 30 people were wounded at the site of the blast, while emergency 
workers rescued 28 residents, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. At least 10 
people were believed missing.

   In neighboring blocks, windows had shattered from the blast wave.

   Resident Lyudmila Hlushko, 78, said she heard a lot of explosions and the 
sound of rockets flying around 3 a.m. "Then the house shook violently and there 
was a loud bang, breaking the glass in my house," she told The Associated Press.

   Another local resident, Nadiia Lobanova, said "it was a terrible night."

   "We're used to this, well, it's impossible to get used to this, but somehow 
we held on," she told AP.

   Damage was recorded across six districts of the capital, according to head 
of Kyiv's Military Administration Tymur Tkachenko.

   Russia's biggest attacks since its full-scale invasion

   The Ukrainian cities of Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa 
also were targeted in Russia's bombardment, officials said.

   Twenty-eight people were wounded in Kharkiv, including three children, 
regional head Oleh Syniehubov said.

   "We are now experiencing the largest strikes since the start of the 
full-scale invasion," Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on 
Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.

   Ukraine's air defense forces are under severe strain, he said.

   Air defenses shot down or jammed 693 Russian targets overnight, including 41 
missiles and 652 drones of various types, across the country, Ukraine's air 
force said .

   Fifteen missiles and 23 drones scored direct hits across 24 locations, it 
said. Debris from downed drones fell across an additional 18 locations.

   Strikes on energy infrastructure left customers in Kyiv and 11 other regions 
temporarily without power Thursday, Ukraine's national grid operator Ukrenergo 
said.

   The onslaught came just hours after a rare daytime attack on Kyiv that 
killed at least six people, according to Zelenskyy. Wednesday's assault, which 
involved 800 drones, struck about 20 regions of Ukraine and was among the 
longest such attacks during the war.