President Trump criticizes Russia's biggest attack on Kyiv since last summer

Russia launched an alarming attack against Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday amid U.S.-led efforts to secure a ceasefire prompting a rare rebuke from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Lee Eun-jin has details.

In the early hours of Thursday local time, Russia conducted a massive combined missile and drone attack on Kyiv, killing at least 12 people and injuring over 90.

The strikes, which began around 1 AM, targeted multiple districts and caused significant damage to residential buildings and vehicles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the assault one of Moscow's "most outrageous," while officials reported that it involved ballistic missiles.

The country's Interior Minister said that apart from the Kyiv area, seven other regions were targeted in the "mass" attack.

The attack marks the deadliest assault on the capital since last July and comes amid heightened tension over negotiations to end the ongoing conflict.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump, in a rare move, criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging him to stop such attacks, adding that Putin demonstrated "very bad timing" and that the attacks were "not necessary."

Trump had said on Wednesday that he believed Russia was ready for a peace deal with Ukraine. He also lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he was harder to deal with than expected, accusing him of prolonging the war by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula as part of a possible deal.

He also said that Russia had made a "pretty big concession" to end the war by not "taking the whole country."

But Ukraine and much of Europe have fiercely pushed back, arguing that Russia holding back on a land grab is hardly a concession.

And Zelenskyy reiterated that any peace agreement including Russia's demand to keep control of Crimea is a red line for Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said further discussions were planned for the weekend to finalize a peace deal

how things develop in the next few days will be crucial for the future direction of U.S.-led peace talks.

Lee Eunjin, Arirang News.