Russian missiles strike Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, for third time in a week
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- Russia struck Kyiv with missiles early Wednesday for the third large-scale assault in less than a week, with Mayor Vitali Klitschko reporting fires in two districts via Telegram; casualties and damage were not yet confirmed.
- Russia's Monday attack on Kyiv killed at least 14 people and damaged at least a dozen buildings, part of a broader pattern of large-scale strikes that other outlets say killed 20 on the eve of the NATO summit.
- Ukraine hit eight sanctioned tankers from Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Sea of Azov on Tuesday — each with a deadweight of about 7,000 metric tonnes, carrying fuel to Moscow-occupied Crimea — and struck two more later in the day.
- NATO's annual summit opened Tuesday in Ankara with the Russia-Ukraine war on the agenda; the alliance is expected to pledge further military support for Ukraine's air defences following the deadly escalation of strikes on Kyiv.
- Zelenskyy signed new defense agreements with Estonia, the Netherlands, and Denmark in Ankara covering joint production and export of "battlefield-proven solutions," with further deals expected from Germany, Norway, Finland, and Canada.
- Trump is scheduled to meet Zelenskyy on the summit sidelines Wednesday after speaking with Putin ahead of NATO; Trump said he hoped the war would be settled "soon" because "I think they both want to make a deal."
- Both Russia and Ukraine have recently expanded their use of long-range weapons, including missiles, marking what the source describes as a new front in Moscow's four-year war.
Why it matters: The escalation coincides directly with NATO's annual summit in Ankara, where Zelenskyy is pressing for stronger air-defence pledges and Trump is set to meet him Wednesday after calling Putin. Ukraine's shadow-fleet strike shows Kyiv is now matching Moscow's long-range escalation rather than waiting out the diplomacy.
