A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Over the weekend, Ukraine says Russia launched its largest airstrikes yet on Ukrainian cities using more than 800 attack drones.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
At least five people were killed, and dozens were injured. And for the first time, a building in the heavily protected government sector was badly damaged. The attack comes as appeals from the Trump administration have failed to push Russia into ending its war on Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Joanna Kakissis is on the line from Kyiv. Joanna, tell us about this weekend's attacks.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Yeah, actually, I'd just gotten back into town when these attacks began on Saturday evening. I woke up in the middle of the night after I heard a very loud and familiar buzzing sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHAHED DRONE BUZZING)
KAKISSIS: That's a Shahed drone flying over our neighborhood, and then the booms of air defense trying to shoot down the drones as well as missiles. By early Sunday morning, smoke was billowing from the government sector, which is protected by layers of air defense. The building where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Cabinet meets was on fire.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And this is a heavily guarded sector of Kyiv. I mean, is this the first time a building in that area has been damaged in an attack?
KAKISSIS: Yes, A, it's the first time since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Now, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, the fire appears to have started after burning debris from a destroyed Russian drone fell on the building. And later on Sunday, Yulia Svyrydenko - she's Ukraine's prime minister - she posted a video to social media of herself walking past the broken walls of the damaged building. Here's a bit of that clip.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER YULIA SVYRYDENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: Now, she's saying, "you can see the consequences of this attack. We've put out the fires. Our rescue crews are still working, and it looks like Russia is not seeking peace and is not ready for negotiations." Svyrydenko went on to say that she hopes Ukraine's allies will respond.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, have they responded?
KAKISSIS: Well, yeah, they have at least verbally. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said the Kremlin is mocking diplomacy, trampling on international law and killing indiscriminately because among those killed in Ukraine was a mother and her infant son in Kyiv. However, the European Union is not entirely united in how to respond to Russian attacks. Hungary and Slovakia, for example, rely on Russian oil and economic ties, and its populist leaders often attack NATO and even the EU leadership as elitists. But von der Leyen said the EU is tightening sanctions on Russia and is helping Ukraine financially and with its military.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. What did President Trump have to say about this?
KAKISSIS: Well, President Trump told reporters in Washington on Sunday that he is considering new sanctions in response to Russia rebuffing a ceasefire. However, the 50% tariffs the Trump administration imposed on countries like India for buying Russian oil appear to have had no real impact. Speaking to NBC News on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the U.S. is open to partnering with the European Union to impose even more sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil. This would be an attempt to, quote, "collapse" the Russian economy, as he said. Though, of course, that would take quite a while.
MARTÍNEZ: So it looks like Russia is able to resist the effects of sanctions. So is Ukraine preparing for an extended war?
KAKISSIS: Yeah. Well, they are preparing by arming themselves. President Zelenskyy said a couple of days ago that Ukraine now produces more than 60% of its own weapons. And in his evening address last night, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is fighting what he called air raid anxiety by making air defense a top priority because, according to Ukraine's military intelligence, Russia is producing nearly 3,000 Shahed attack drones every month, and that's a sign that the attacks will continue.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Joanna, thanks.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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