Air defence rockets roared over Kyiv as Ukraine said it downed Russian missiles and drones during a visit to the city by several African leaders on Friday.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military announced that western allies would train “dozens” of its pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets.
Explosions boomed above Kyiv and vapour trails crossed the sky as cars carrying a peace delegation led by leaders from South Africa, Senegal, Zambia, the Comoros and Egypt sped through the city to a luxury hotel, where they reportedly took shelter in the basement.
Officials said the explosions were from air defence rockets and that the latest Russian strike did not cause injuries or damage in the city, but at least three people were hurt in Kyiv region.
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Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russian president Vladimir Putin “builds confidence” by “launching the largest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks, exactly amid the visit of African leaders to our capital. Russian missiles are a message to Africa: Russia wants more war, not peace.”
The visiting leaders are believed to have brought a draft peace plan that proposes “confidence-building measures” as initial steps towards halting almost 15 months of all-out war that have killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions in Ukraine.
African states are also eager to free up exports of grain, fertiliser and other agricultural products from Ukraine and Russia, which have been badly disrupted by Russia’s partial blockade of the Black Sea and western sanctions against Russian companies.
The plan has little chance of swift success, however, given the ambitions of both sides to make gains on the battlefield and the failure of most African leaders to condemn Russia’s invasion or demand an end to its occupation of about a fifth of Ukraine.
China and the Vatican also claim to have peace proposals, but Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urged countries to back the Ukrainian president’s plan to end the war, which is based on de-occupation of Ukraine and prosecution of Russian war crimes but also includes provision to protect food supplies.
“Whenever a high-ranking foreign delegation visits Ukraine, Russia greets it with a missile attack on our peaceful cities,” he tweeted. “The world should support (Mr Zelenskiy’s) peace formula. The only alternative to it is Russia’s endless war”.
With Ukraine and western allies at loggerheads with Russia, both Moscow and Kyiv are making a diplomatic push in Africa, the Middle East and South America to win round other countries to their cause – or, in the Kremlin’s case, to ensure they at least remain neutral.
The African leaders are expected to meet Mr Putin on Saturday in Saint Petersburg, where he held talks on Friday with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Putin thanked his guest for helping broker an exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners and called the Emirates “a very good and comfortable partner”.
Sheikh Mohammed reportedly told his host: “I am pleased to be here today with you, your Excellency, and we wish to build on this relationship and we put our trust in you to do so.”
Ukraine’s military said it was keeping pressure on Russia’s invasion force after retaking seven villages and some 100 sq km of land in eastern areas in the last week or so.
Russia has not acknowledged losing any ground and said on Friday it was still nullifying Ukraine’s counteroffensive and inflicting more missile strikes on its military.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat denied reports that the country’s pilots were already being trained abroad on advanced F-16 fighters, but said “a few dozen” would go through such training, starting with those who speak the best English.
“Everything is being done to get it started as early as possible,” he told Ukrainian national television, adding that the pilots picked for training would have combat experience.
Nato members the Netherlands and Denmark are leading efforts by an international coalition to train pilots and support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately supply F-16s to Ukraine.
