Ukraine Endures Renewed Russian Assaults Amid Stalled UN Peace Efforts

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least eight civilians, officials said Thursday, as Moscow’s prolonged invasion continues despite renewed calls for a settlement at this week’s U.N. General Assembly.

A strike on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region killed six agricultural workers and wounded 12 others, Interior Minister Ihor Vyhivskyi said. An attack on the capital, Kyiv, killed a man and a woman, while officials in the southern port of Odesa also reported a major bombardment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed in a speech at the United Nations late Wednesday for countries to cut off Russia’s revenue through sanctions and trade bans, denying Moscow the funds needed to prolong the war. He and other leaders at previous U.N. general assemblies have sought to pressure Moscow into abandoning its ambitions in Ukraine.

However, despite years of diplomatic efforts, there is no sign of a breakthrough in ending a war that has disrupted global food and energy supplies and severely strained relations between Russia and Western nations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow’s demand for a comprehensive peace deal rather than a temporary halt to hostilities, following Ukraine’s call for a complete and unconditional ceasefire.

“We believe it is necessary to seek peace, not a temporary truce,” Peskov told reporters on Thursday. Russia’s demands for Ukraine to surrender its territory, among other conditions, are unacceptable to Kyiv.

The aerial war has intensified in recent months. Russia continues to strike Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, powerful glide bombs, and jet-powered drones, while Ukrainian long-range drones target oil refineries and businesses vital to the Russian economy.

There have been few significant changes along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine since last year, where massive numbers of drones on both sides severely limit movement.

The attack on Kyiv damaged more than 50 civilian sites, including apartment blocks, post offices, a maternity hospital, and a textile plant, said Interior Minister Vyhivskyi.

Russia has repeatedly struck Ukrainian trains, shopping malls, supermarkets, and gas stations, among other sites, keeping civilians on edge.

Valentyna Kolosenko, a 49-year-old Kyiv resident, said a solid oak door she stood behind saved her when three blasts erupted around her home. She stated she would endure the hardship, despite her fear.

“Everything is paralyzed. Nothing works,” she told The Associated Press. “Getting to work is incredibly difficult and frightening.”

Liubov Paziuk, a 74-year-old pensioner in the capital whose home windows were shattered, said she remained determined to resist the Russian onslaught. “We don’t get used to it, we adapt, because we have only one choice: to stay here, on our land, despite everything,” she said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the military struck arms factories, telecommunications, and logistical facilities in Kyiv and the Odesa region overnight.

The United Nations stated last week that more Ukrainian civilians were killed and wounded in the first eight months of 2026 than in the entirety of last year. Russian attacks in August killed at least 368 civilians and wounded 2,314 others, according to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

“Russia’s escalation of terror demonstrates that active diplomacy must come hand in hand with devastating pressure on Putin’s regime and unwavering support for the defense of Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

As another subzero winter approaches, Zelenskyy said conditions are likely to worsen. However, he promised to continue fighting.

“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,” the Ukrainian leader said on social media. “That is exactly why we say that de-escalation steps are needed before winter.”

Officials in western Russia reported Ukrainian long-range attacks on Thursday but provided few details.

Ukrainian drone fragments damaged an administrative building at an oil refinery in the Rostov region, but there was no fire, Gov. Yuri Slyusar said.

In the Krasnodar region, Ukrainian drone fragments sparked a brief fire at an industrial facility, regional emergency officials said.

Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.

Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that a drone violated its airspace for four minutes before crashing near a town in the north of the country, near the border with Ukraine.

The ministry had earlier scrambled two Romanian F-16s and two Spanish F-18s to monitor its airspace in two separate locations after a spate of drones were detected in Ukraine near the border.

Authorities did not specify who the drone belonged to.

Also, Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it recorded a spate of airspace incursions during Russia’s attacks on neighboring Ukraine. The incidents prompted authorities to close part of Moldova’s northern airspace, the ministry said.

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press journalists Volodymr Yurchuk and Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England contributed to this report.

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