A "massive" Russian missile attack on Kyiv on Thursday killed at least nine and wounded dozens in one of the deadliest strikes on the Ukrainian capital since Moscow launched its invasion more than three years ago.

Ukraine has been battered by Russian aerial attacks through the war, but deadly strikes on Kyiv, which is better protected by air defences that other cities, are less common.

The attacks throw yet more doubt on already fraught US efforts to push Russia and Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire, hours after US President Donald Trump lashed out at Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing to accept Moscow's occupation of the Crimean peninsula as a condition for peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is yet to respond to Zelensky's offer to completely halt air attacks on civilian targets, and last month rejected a US-Ukrainian call for a full and unconditional ceasefire.

"Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war," Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on social media, also slamming Moscow's "maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw" from more of its........

© International Business Times