Worthy Christian News > World News > Russian Attack Kills Several In Ukrainian President’s Home City Ahead Of EU Summit

Russian Attack Kills Several In Ukrainian President’s Home City Ahead Of EU Summit

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KRYVYI RIH/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – A Russian missile struck a hotel in the home city of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, killing several people and injuring dozens, just hours before he was to attend a European Union summit.

The attack late Wednesday in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih shocked residents. “It was so scary,” said Evelyn, a 23-year-old pharmacist in Kryvyi Rih who often updates Worthy News on the situation. “I am not doing very well. There was another landing of a rocket, this time at a hotel,” she added.

By Thursday, Serhiy Lysak, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, confirmed at least two people died and 28 others were injured, including a child. “Several people were seriously hurt,” he said.

Ukraine’s Emergency Services said 14 people had been rescued from rubble at the hotel, which suffered heavy damage.

Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s military administration, explained Thursday that rescue operations proceeded through the night.

The attack came a day after a Russian drone strike late Tuesday killed one person and caused power, water, and heating cuts in Odesa for the second day running, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor. A 77-year-old woman died of shrapnel wounds on the outskirts of the city, he said, and drone strikes damaged critical infrastructure, leaving neighborhoods without services.

Kiper said fragments from downed drones had damaged private houses and started fires in outlying city districts. A missile strike had destroyed an empty sanatorium near the town of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, south of Odesa, he added.

MORE DAMAGE

East of the capital, Kyiv, drones targeted a multi-story apartment building near the town of Boryspil, smashing windows and triggering a fire in a business, witnesses said. Local officials reported no casualties.

Yet the clashes underscored the urgency of a European Union summit where Zelenskyy and leaders of all 27 EU member states discuss the defense of his war-torn nation against Russian invaders.

The gathering comes after the U.S. paused intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and halted new military aid, piling pressure on Zelenskyy to cooperate with U.S. President Donald J. Trump in convening peace talks.

The suspension, especially the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) information, could cost lives by hurting Ukraine’s ability to prepare and defend itself against Russian missile strikes or limiting skills on the front lines, observers say.

Ukrainian officials suggested it would also hinder Ukraine’s ability to carry out effective long-range drone strikes on Russia.

However, CIA director John Ratcliffe expressed confidence that the pause on the intelligence and military front was temporary and would “go away.” He told Fox Business Network television. “I think we’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that’s there, but to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward.”

Several Democrats criticized the intelligence-sharing suspension with Senator Mark Warner, the vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, saying the “ill-advised decision” showed that Trump had given American power to Russia. “Let me be clear: Cutting off intelligence support to our Ukrainian partners will cost [Ukrainian] lives,” the Virginia Democrat stressed.

EU LEADERS

The move was also expected to pressure European leaders, who will aim to endorse bold measures to ramp up defense spending and pledge support for Ukraine on Thursday at their summit in Brussels.

However, Hungary is among the most outspoken nations opposing more military aid and warned it would not endorse a statement backing Kyiv.

The European Commission – the EU’s executive body – has unveiled proposals to “rearm Europe” for 800 billion euros, or nearly $865 billion, according to Thursday’s exchange rates, more than 20 billion higher than previously reported.

The plan allows member states to borrow up to 150 billion euros (nearly $162 billion) in total.

On Tuesday, the parties aiming to form Germany’s next government agreed to loosen borrowing limits to allow billions of euros of extra defense spending.

The measures came amid mounting concern that the United States is abandoning the old continent as it focuses on geopolitical realities elsewhere, including China, which it views as a key rival.

The Trump administration also wants to prevent closer military cooperation between China and Russia, according to a Worthy News assessment.

US SUPPORT?

“I want to believe that the United States will stand by us. But we have to be ready if that is not the case,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in an address to the French nation on the eve of the summit.

As a sign of the gravity of the moment, Macron said France was open to discussing extending the protection offered by its nuclear arsenal to its European partners and added that European forces could be deployed after a peace deal was agreed upon.

He spoke as news emerged that he is considering traveling again to Washington to meet Trump, Zelenskyy, and Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Britain’s Prime Minister Starmer sounded upbeat ahead of these expected talks, saying he welcomed Trump’s comments about the prospect of a peace deal.

Asked whether Britain welcomed what Zelenskyy said in a letter to Trump urging cooperation, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “President Zelenskyy said that the United States has done a huge amount to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence, and we’ve all said that we share President Trump’s desire for a secure and durable peace in Ukraine. And the prime minister believes a way forward can be found and welcomes President Trump’s comments overnight in that regard.”

Zelenskyy said on Wednesday there had been “positive movement” on talks with the U.S. and that officials from the two countries could meet again soon.

The White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, pledged that Trump would consider restoring aid to Ukraine if peace talks were arranged and confidence-building measures taken.

MINERALS DEAL

The White House said the two countries’ talks about a minerals deal were ongoing.

A senior administration official confirmed Wednesday that the signing was imminent and would be the first step in a longer negotiation between Ukraine, Washington, and Russia on ending the war.

Yet Russia questioned how Ukraine could attend potential talks when a 2022 Ukrainian decree rules out negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy “is still legally prohibited from negotiating with the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added, talking to reporters.

But he said the Kremlin was “generally positive” about the prospect of peace talks.

However, tensions remained as a Russian court announced that a British man captured fighting for Ukraine was sentenced to 19 years in prison. The court press service for the city of Kursk explained that James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, was found guilty of a “terrorist act” and acting as a mercenary after he was captured while fighting in the region in November 2024.

Britain strongly condemned the sentencing, said a spokesperson for the Foreign Office, who called on Russia to respect its obligations towards “prisoners of war.”

It was not immediately clear when and if the man would appeal against the ruling. Numerous foreign mercenaries and NATO troops have been unofficially active in Ukraine, Worthy News documented during the war.