At least seven people have been killed including two children during intense Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, officials say. A kindergarten was hit in Ukraine's second biggest city Kharkiv and there was widespread damage in Kyiv. Children were among the 27 people wounded.
Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump said his plans for an imminent summit in Budapest with Russia's Vladimir Putin had been shelved as he did not want a 'wasted meeting'.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks proved Moscow had not come under enough pressure for its continued war.
The Kremlin has rejected calls for a ceasefire along the current front lines made both by Trump and European leaders. However, Russian officials said on Wednesday that preparation for a Trump-Putin summit was continuing, disputing the US president's assessment that it had been put on hold.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated a date had yet to be agreed upon and careful preparation was required. He insisted that a summit was 'the mutual desire of both presidents' and most of the 'gossip and rumours' surrounding it were untrue.
Ukraine's president arrived in Norway on Wednesday at the start of a European trip, following talks with Trump in Washington last Friday. During those talks, he failed to persuade the US president to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles, which he directly linked to this latest violence.
Zelensky told reporters in Oslo that Trump's proposal to freeze the front line was a 'good compromise, but I'm not sure that Putin will support it.' The attacks mark a significant escalation, as they come just after Ukraine targeted a Russian chemical plant with UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Tragic losses included a family in the village of Pohreby, where a woman and her two children were killed when their home was hit by a Russian strike. Eyewitness accounts describe the chaos and devastation following the attacks, with local communities grappling with the reality of war once more.
As Ukraine braces for further assaults, electricity and water supplies remain severely disrupted, affecting countless civilians in the region.
Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump said his plans for an imminent summit in Budapest with Russia's Vladimir Putin had been shelved as he did not want a 'wasted meeting'.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks proved Moscow had not come under enough pressure for its continued war.
The Kremlin has rejected calls for a ceasefire along the current front lines made both by Trump and European leaders. However, Russian officials said on Wednesday that preparation for a Trump-Putin summit was continuing, disputing the US president's assessment that it had been put on hold.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated a date had yet to be agreed upon and careful preparation was required. He insisted that a summit was 'the mutual desire of both presidents' and most of the 'gossip and rumours' surrounding it were untrue.
Ukraine's president arrived in Norway on Wednesday at the start of a European trip, following talks with Trump in Washington last Friday. During those talks, he failed to persuade the US president to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles, which he directly linked to this latest violence.
Zelensky told reporters in Oslo that Trump's proposal to freeze the front line was a 'good compromise, but I'm not sure that Putin will support it.' The attacks mark a significant escalation, as they come just after Ukraine targeted a Russian chemical plant with UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Tragic losses included a family in the village of Pohreby, where a woman and her two children were killed when their home was hit by a Russian strike. Eyewitness accounts describe the chaos and devastation following the attacks, with local communities grappling with the reality of war once more.
As Ukraine braces for further assaults, electricity and water supplies remain severely disrupted, affecting countless civilians in the region.
