Missile strikes hotel in Zelenskyy’s hometown in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian missile slammed into a hotel late Wednesday in the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring more than 30 others, Ukrainian authorities said.

“Just before the attack, volunteers from a humanitarian organization — citizens of Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom — had checked into the hotel,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “They survived because they managed to get down from their rooms in time. Unfortunately, four people were killed in this attack.”

“There must be no pause in the pressure on Russia to stop this war and terror against life,” he said.

The latest strikes occurred after an announcement from the United States that it was suspending both military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine in an effort to force Ukraine to the negotiating table with Russia. Officials in Kyiv have warned that without U.S. assistance Ukraine’s air-defense capabilities would be among the first elements of its security to be compromised.

The Trump administration’s special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, said Thursday that cutting off intelligence sharing with Ukraine was meant to get the attention of Zelenskyy akin to “hitting a mule with a 2-by-4 across the nose.”

Kellogg was speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington and his remarks earned a frosty reception from the national security experts in the audience. When Kellogg, discussing the pause in intelligence sharing, said the Ukrainians “brought it on themselves,” the audience hissed in response.

Earlier Thursday, rescue workers raced to pull wounded civilians from the ruined building in Zelenskyy’s hometown, Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine, and air-defense crews across the country scrambled to defend against bombardments that have become routine during the winter.

In total, the Ukrainian air force reported, Russia launched two ballistic missiles and 112 drones — including some with dummy warheads designed to expose and exhaust air defenses.

Most of the deadly drones were shot down, the air force reported, but it did not say whether either of the missiles had been downed.

The American-made Patriot system has proved to be Ukraine’s most reliable defense against Russia’s most sophisticated ballistic missiles. The pause in U.S. military assistance could leave Ukrainians short of the interceptor missiles that have helped provide a blanket of protection over the capital, Kyiv, and other cities.

At the same time, Ukraine’s air-raid alerts are informed, to some degree, by the early warning data provided by American satellites, which can detect aircraft and missile launches deep in Russian territory. It is not clear if the pause on intelligence sharing included information related to those systems.

Ukrainian authorities sought to reassure the public that they were taking steps to address the fallout from the sudden moves by its primary military ally as Washington increasingly aligns itself with Moscow and applies pressure to Ukraine before peace negotiations.

© 2025 The New York Times Company