Russia strikes Ukrainian city of Dnipro as Kyiv seeks security pledges in Paris

By ILLIA NOVIKOV
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing three people, including a child, and wounding dozens, officials said Thursday.

The strike late Wednesday was the latest in a string of Russian attacks that have caused civilian casualties and intensified in recent weeks, as the United States continues efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv.

Thirty people, including five children, were wounded in the attack, said Serhii Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration.

Local authorities said the drones caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, including an educational institution, a dormitory, a gymnasium and multiple residential buildings. Emergency services said the strikes started multiple fires across the city.

In a reaction to the Dnipro attack, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allies to support his country with air defense weapons.

“Every defense package from partners for Ukraine now, every form of support from the world for our resilience, is literally protecting lives,” Zelenskyy wrote on the messaging service Telegram on Thursday. “Russia uses every day and every night to kill.”

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian delegation was in Paris for meetings with representatives of countries from the so-called “coalition of the willing,” including France, Germany and the U.K., said Andrii Yermak, head of the Presidential Office.

The multinational force is expected to be a long-term security guarantee to deter future Russian aggression once a ceasefire is in place.

The delegation also includes Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. Yermak said talks with U.S. representatives were also scheduled.

“We are working on important aspects for the security of Ukraine and all of Europe,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine and the U.S. continue working on a long-delayed minerals deal and Zelenskyy said Thursday that a memorandum of intent — not the full agreement — could be signed online later in the day as a first step, granting the U.S. access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources.

“A few days ago, the American side proposed returning to an earlier step — a memorandum of intent — while lawyers continue working on the full agreement,” Zelenskyy said at a briefing in Kyiv. “I think this memorandum is important. It’s the first step.”

The framework of the mineral deal had stalled in February following a contentious Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and Zelenskyy. Negotiations have since resumed on a revised framework.

Trump, speaking to reporters during a White House meeting with the Italian prime minister on Thursday, confirmed that there was an agreement.

“We have a minerals deal,” he said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was also in the meeting, said they were “still working on the details” of the signing but said it could be done “around April 25.”

He also said the agreement is “substantially what we agreed on previously.”

A previous version of the framework agreement, obtained by The Associated Press, outlined plans for a jointly owned and managed investment fund between the U.S. and Ukraine, intended to support the reconstruction of Ukraine’s war-torn economy.

But as Kyiv works to deepen ties with Western allies, it has voiced concerns over alleged military cooperation between Russia and China. Zelenskyy said that Kyiv has received intelligence confirming China is supplying weapons to Russia, including gunpowder and artillery.

He told the news conference that Ukrainian security and intelligence agencies report that some Chinese representatives are involved in weapons production on Russian territory.

“We are ready to speak in detail about this,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine expects to share documentation to support the claims next week. “We see the cooperation between these two countries in this area, and we must acknowledge it is happening.”

The Associated Press could not confirm Zelenskyy’s statement.

China has provided strong diplomatic support for Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of neighbor Ukraine in February 2022. Beijing has also offered an economic lifeline to Moscow through trading in energy and consumer goods.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its air defense systems shot down overnight 71 Ukrainian drones across six regions. Of those, 49 drones were intercepted over the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, it said. Kyiv’s forces seized a strip of land in the area during a surprise incursion in August 2024.

Additional drones were downed over the Bryansk, Vladimir, Oryol, Ryazan, and Tula regions, the ministry said.

And in Ukraine, Russia launched five missiles along with 75 strike drones overnight, the air force said Thursday. Air defense forces destroyed 25 drones, while another 30 were jammed. ___

Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed from Washington.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine