Zelensky Slams Putin After Russian Strikes Kill 11

Kyiv, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Dec, 2024) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday slammed Russia and its President Vladimir Putin over two aerial attacks that killed at least 11 people.

Moscow has ramped up its strikes on Ukraine as winter sets in, and Zelensky said the attacks showed Russia has no interest in striking a deal to end its nearly three-year invasion.

Nine were killed in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, while two were killed in the central city of Kryvyi Rig, officials said.

"Thousands of such strikes carried out by Russia during this war make it absolutely clear that Putin does not need real peace," Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.

"Only by force can we resist this. And only through force can real peace be established," he added.

Zaporizhzhia governor Ivan Fedorov said a Russian attack had set a car garage and service station on fire in the blast, posting images of a fire blazing with debris strewn across the street.

A total of 19 people were wounded there including at least two children, he said.

Another 16 were wounded in the strike on Kryvyi Rig, including a child, the state emergency services agency said.

"A three-storey building was destroyed, residential buildings and cars were damaged" in that attack, the agency said on Telegram.

Zelensky is set to travel to Paris this weekend for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral, a senior Ukraine official told AFP.

He hopes to hold talks there with US president-elect Donald Trump.

Trump, a sceptic of US aid to Kyiv, has pledged to end the war within 24 hours of coming to office, but has yet to say how he intends to do so.

Zelensky has repeatedly said Ukraine would not be able to hold off Russia's advancing troops without US support, and there are fears in Kyiv that Trump could try to force them to accept peace terms favourable to Russia.