The tranquility of Kyiv was shattered by a series of explosions that resonated through the early morning hours, leaving at least 27 people injured as the assault persisted for several hours.

In discussions with reporters, President Zelenskyy revealed plans to engage in talks with former President Trump on critical topics, including security assurances and territorial disputes in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Carney declared a substantial economic aid package of $1.8 billion (approximately AU$2.6 billion) for Ukraine. This financial support is aimed at unlocking further funding from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to bolster reconstruction and development efforts.

“The brutality witnessed in Kyiv overnight underscores the vital need for us to stand in solidarity with Ukraine during these challenging times,” Carney emphasized.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for a “massive strike” conducted overnight. The attack utilized “long-range precision-guided weapons from land, air, and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles” as well as drones. Their stated goal was to target energy infrastructure facilities supporting Ukraine’s military forces and its military-industrial sectors.

But several residential buildings were struck.

The ministry said the strike was in response to Ukraine’s attacks on “civilian objects” in Russia.

The ministry said air defences shot down seven Ukrainian drones over the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygeya overnight. On Saturday afternoon, the ministry said 147 more drones were shot down over a number of Russian regions.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences intercepted more than 20 drones “flying towards” the Russian capital on Saturday. He didn’t report any damage or casualties. It wasn’t immediately clear whether those were included in the Defence Ministry’s count.

Russia claims territorial gains

In what could be viewed as an effort to further ramp up pressure on Ukraine before the Zelenskyy-Trump talks, the Kremlin released a video of Putin in military fatigues receiving reports from top military officials in an unidentified military command post.

Russia’s General Staff chief, General Valery Gerasimov, reported to Putin that the Russian troops have taken full control of Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region — Russia uses the old Soviet name of the city, Dimitrov — the city of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, and a few other settlements.

Putin said that ”if Kyiv authorities are not willing to end the matter peacefully, we will achieve all the goals we have in the special military operation by military means.”

Ukraine’s General Staff rejected these claims as “not supported by facts.” It said the situation in Huliaipole was “difficult, but the defensive operation in the city is ongoing.” In Myrnohrad, the situation remains “challenging.”

“The senior political leadership of the aggressor state has once again resorted to spreading false claims about significant ‘successes’ by the Russian army on the battlefield,” the General Staff said in an online statement.

There was no violation of Polish airspace, it said.

Civil aviation authority Pansa later said the airports had resumed operations. It was unclear what caused the alert in Poland when the Russian attacks were focused on Kyiv, which is far from the border.

Russia targeted Ukraine with 519 drones and 40 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. The main target was energy and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said. In some districts of the region there is no electricity or heating because of the attacks, he said.

More than 10 residential buildings were damaged, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on social media.

Olena Karpenko, 52, said she heard a man as he burned to death. “His scream is still in my ears. I can’t believe it,” she said, weeping.

Karpenko said they heard an explosion at the nearby thermal power plant, followed by a stronger blast that shook the windows of her home. Then came the strike on her building.

Two children were among those wounded in the attack, which hit seven locations across the capital, the head of the Kyiv Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on social media.

A body was found under the rubble of one damaged building, he said. It wasn’t immediately clear if that person was the man who burned to death.

A fire broke out in an 18-story residential building in the Dnipro district, and emergency crews rushed to contain the flames. A 24-story residential building in the Darnytsia district was also hit, Tkachenko said, and more fires broke out in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivsky districts.

In the wider Kyiv region, the strikes hit industrial and residential buildings, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. In the Vyshhorod area, emergency crews rescued one person found under the rubble of a destroyed house.

Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said on X that the Russian attack caused “extensive power outages” in Kyiv, saying that hundreds of thousands of customers remained without power.

Security guarantees prioritised

Zelenskyy told reporters he would aim to ensure there were “as few unresolved issues as possible ” in talks with Trump, while respecting Ukraine’s red lines.

Speaking by audio note in a Whatsapp chat with journalists, Zelenskyy said he would prioritise discussing security guarantees for Ukraine. He has said that in the draft peace plan, the U.S. has committed to providing guarantees that mirror the NATO alliance’s Article 5, which means an attack on Ukraine would trigger a collective military response from the US and its allies.

But key details must be worked out in a bilateral agreement.

Territorial concessions are the most sensitive of issues the two leaders will discuss.