Key events
People shelter in the metro as Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s capital – video
‘Major rescue operation’ after Russian attack, minister says
Luke Harding
Ukraine’s interior minister Ihor Klymenko said a major rescue operation was under way in the Svyatoshinsky district of Kyiv, involving dogs and engineering teams.
“Mobile phones can be heard ringing under the ruins. The search will continue until everybody is got out. We have information about two children who cannot be found at the scene of the incident,” he said.
Morning opening: Is this your idea of peace?
Jakub Krupa
At least nine people have been killed and more than 60 wounded in a “massive” missile attack on Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service. It is among the deadliest attacks on the capital of the three-year war.
The death toll could go up with reports of people trapped under the rubble and over 40 hospitalised in the aftermath of the attack.
The deadly strike comes a day after a diplomatic meeting in London to discuss the next steps and amid mounting pressure from president Donald Trump on Kyiv to accept a US-brokered peace deal, which would include the US formally recognising Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian Crimea as part of it.
In comments overnight, he boasted: ““I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelensky.”
He added: “I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelensky. So far it’s been harder.”
Or, as our defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh put it, “Russia is willing to trade territory it does not control in Ukraine – in effect fresh air – for a US recognition of its 2014 seizure of Crimea, in other words a formal acknowledgment that it is possible to change borders by force, in effect creating an extraordinary precedent.”
After Zelenskyy said Ukraine would never legally recognise the Russian-occupied Crimea, Trump lashed out on his social media blaming the Ukrainian president for “making it so difficult to settle this war” and “prolonging the ‘killing field’”.
White House Karoline Leavitt added that Trump’s patience was “running very thin.””
Let’s see what the day brings us.
Coincidentally, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte will be in Washington today and tomorrow, meeting with US state secretary Marco Rubio, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, and national security adviser Mike Waltz, giving him plenty of opportunities to get the latest US line on Ukraine.
Elsewhere, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will visit London today for talks on energy security, with her trip coming less than a month before the much-anticipated EU-UK summit on “resetting” the relationship in mid-May.
And the coffin with body of Pope Francis continues to lie in state in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as cardinals finalise arrangements for his funeral on Saturday, and the process of selecting his successor, set to kick off in early May.
It’s Thursday, 24 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
