Russian strikes kill 8 in Ukraine as the UN debates how to end the war

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine overnight killed at least eight civilians, officials said Thursday, as Moscow’s 4½-year-long invasion of its neighbor grinds on despite renewed appeals for a settlement at this week’s U.N. General Assembly.A strike on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region killed six agricultural workers and wounded 12 others, Interior Minister Ihor Vyhivskyi said. An attack on the capital Kyiv killed a man and a woman, he said, while officials in the southern port of Odesa also reported a major bombardment.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed in a speech at the United Nations late Wednesday for countries to starve Russia of revenue through sanctions and trade bans, denying Moscow the money it needs to prolong the war. He and other leaders at previous U.N. general assemblies have sought to pressure Moscow into giving up its ambitions in Ukraine.But despite years of diplomatic efforts there is no sign of a breakthrough in ending a war that has had repercussions for the global food and energy supply, as well as severely straining relations between Russia and Western countries.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated Moscow’s demand for a comprehensive peace deal, not a temporary break in hostilities, following Ukraine’s call for a complete and unconditional ceasefire.“We believe it’s necessary to seek peace, not a temporary truce,” Peskov told reporters Thursday. Russia’s demands for Ukraine to surrender its territory, among other things, are unacceptable for Kyiv.The aerial war has intensified in recent months. Russia keeps hammering Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, powerful glide bombs and jet-powered drones, while Ukraine’s long-range drones target oil refineries and businesses that are a vital part of the Russian economy.There have been few significant changes since last year along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, where a huge number of drones on both sides limit movement.Russian strikes are an ordeal for Ukrainian civiliansThe attack on Kyiv damaged more than 50 civilian sites, including apartment blocks, post offices, a maternity hospital and a textile plant, Vyhivskyi, the interior minister, said.Russia has repeatedly hit Ukrainian trains, shopping malls, supermarkets and gas stations, among other sites, keeping civilians on edge.Valentyna Kolosenko, a 49-year-old Kyiv resident, said a solid oak door she was standing behind saved her when three blasts occurred around her home. She said she would endure the hardship, even though she was scared.“Everything is paralyzed. Nothing works,” she told The Associated Press. “Getting to work is incredibly difficult and frightening.”Liubov Paziuk, a 74-year-old pensioner in the capital whose house windows were shattered, said she remained determined to resist the Russian onslaught. “We don’t get used to it, we adapt, because we have only one choice: to stay here, on our land, despite everything,” she said.Russia’s Defense Ministry said the military overnight struck arms factories, telecommunications and logistical facilities in Kyiv and the Odesa region.The United Nations said last week that more Ukrainian civilians were killed and wounded in the first eight months of 2026 than in the whole of last year. Russian attacks in August killed at least 368 civilians and wounded 2,314 others, according to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.“Russia’s escalation of terror demonstrates that active diplomacy must come hand in hand with devastating pressure on Putin’s regime and unwavering support for the defense of Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.As another Ukrainian subzero winter approaches, Zelenskyy said things are likely to get worse. But he promised to keep fighting.“Ukrainians understand that this winter could be very harsh for us. But in response, we will have no choice but to make it painful for Russia, too,” the Ukrainian leader said on social media. “And that’s exactly why we say that de-escalation steps are important are needed before winter.”Ukrainian drones strike in western RussiaOfficials in western Russia on Thursday reported Ukrainian long-range attacks but provided few details.Ukrainian drone fragments damaged an administrative building of an oil refinery in the Rostov region but there was no fire, Gov. Yuri Slyusar said.In the Krasnodar region, Ukrainian drone fragments sparked a brief fire on the premises of an industrial facility, regional emergency officials said.Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.Drones fly into Romania and MoldovaRomania’s Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that a drone violated its airspace for four minutes before crashing near a town in the north of the country, near the border with Ukraine.The ministry had earlier scrambled two Romanian F-16s and two Spanish F-18s to monitor its airspace in two separate locations after a spate of drones were detected in Ukraine near the border.Authorities did not specify who the drone belonged to.Also, Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it recorded a spate of airspace incursions during Russia’s attacks on neighboring Ukraine. The incidents prompted authorities to close part of Moldova’s northern airspace, the ministry said.___Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press journalists Volodymr Yurchuk and Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England contributed to this report.___Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine