Volodymyr Zelensky will have to ‘give up territory’ to Russia in order to achieve peace in Ukraine, the mayor of Kyiv has warned as Vladimir Putin ignores Donald Trump’s plea to end the violence and launches another massive drone attack.
The Kremlin launched 103 drones in overnight attacks targeting Ukraine, causing damage in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Cherkasy, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Three people, including a child, were killed and eight more were also wounded in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, the regional governor said Friday.
Zelensky has repeatedly said that Ukraine won’t concede land to Russia, but Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has now admitted that doing so may be the ‘painful solution’ to achieving piece.
‘One of the scenarios is… to give up territory. It’s not fair,’ Klitschko told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday. ‘But for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution, temporary.’
The mayor, however, admitted that Zelensky has not involved him in discussions about a possible route to peace. He said that is ‘not my function, it is the function of President Zelensky’ and that ‘President Zelensky does himself’.
Kiltschko’s remarks come as US-led effort to secure a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia has not made progress, fuelling frustration from Trump.
Trump on Thursday offered rare criticism of Putin, urging the Russian leader to ‘STOP!’ after a deadly barrage of missile strikes on Kyiv.
The comments about Putin came after Trump lashed out at Zelensky on Wednesday and accused him of prolonging the ‘killing field’ by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula as part of a possible deal. Russia illegally annexed that area in 2014.
Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko, pictured Thursday speaking to the BBC following a massive Russian missile attack on Kyiv, has warned that Volodymyr Zelensky will have to ‘give up territory’ to Russia in order to achieve peace in Ukraine
The Kremlin launched 103 drones in overnight attacks targeting Ukraine, causing damage in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Cherkasy, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Pictured are drone strikes over Kharkiv overnight
Russian troops struck the Dnipropetrovsk region early this morning. In Pavlograd, as a result of the strike, at least three people were killed, including a child. Eight more people were injured
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 103 drones in overnight attacks across Ukraine, causing damage in five regions.
Air defence units shot down 41 drones, and another 40 drones were redirected by electronic warfare, the air force said on Telegram.
At least three people were killed in Pavlohrad in the overnight attacks, according to Serhiy Lysak, governor for the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
‘The aggressor again conducted a mass attack on the region with drones,’ Lysak said on Telegram, adding that 11 drones where destroyed over the region.
Lysak said that several fires had broken out in the city, posting a photo of a fire raging on some levels of a multi-storey building.
He said that six of the wounded where hospitalised while two others, including a 15-year-old girl, were treated on site.
‘Unfortunately, there are already three dead in Pavlohrad. Among them is a child,’ he said in a later update. Search and rescue operations were ongoing, he added.
The industrial city of Pavlohrad had a pre-war population of about 100,000 people. It is an important railway hub for the Dnipropetrovsk region, connecting it to the east of the country.
As a result of the attack, fires had also broken out on the sites of enterprises in the Synelnykivskyi and Samarivskyi districts, Lysak added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured on Thursday) has repeatedly said that Ukraine won’t concede land to Russia , but Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has now admitted that doing so may be the ‘painful solution’ to achieving piece
The overnight drone attacks caused fires in the region, engulfing buildings and cars in flames. Firefighters are pictured a clearing debris in the Dnipropetrovsk region this morning
Emergency services saved 10 people, including two children, this morning in Pavlograd. rescuers are pictured working in the Dnipropetrovsk region today
Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv was also under drone attack, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said, adding that according to preliminary information several private buildings were damaged.
Zelensky, quoting Ukraine’s top commander, said early on Friday that Russian forces had tried to use mass air strikes as cover for intensified land-based attacks, but these were repelled.
‘The Russians in fact tried, under cover of their mass air strikes, to make ground advances,’ Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app, referring to a report from top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
‘When our forces were concentrating to the maximum on defending against missiles and drones, the Russians went ahead with intensified ground attacks. But they were repelled in worthy fashion.’
The attacks come just one day after Russia launched its deadliest strikes on Kyiv in months and after Russia’s foreign minister said Thursday that Moscow was ready to do a deal on its war in Ukraine.
‘We are ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points… which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this,’ Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with CBS News.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Russia today, where he is expected to hold another round of ceasefire talks with Putin.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 103 drones in overnight attacks across Ukraine, causing damage in five regions. Pictured are firefighters battling a blaze caused by the strikes
Several fires had broken out across the region as a result of Russia’s overnight strikes. Firefighters are pictured battling blazes this morning
Air defence units shot down 41 drones overnight, and another 40 drones were redirected by electronic warfare, Ukraine’s air force said. Pictured are firefighters and Ukrainian Emergency Services personnel early Friday morning in the aftermath of the strikes
Lavrov said the talks process was moving in the right direction, and negotiations would continue with Washington.
He said the US president was ‘probably the only leader on Earth who recognised the need to address the root causes of this situation’, but said Trump ‘did not spell out the elements of the deal’.
Trump, however, issued a direct appeal to Putin Thursday following missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital, which left at least 12 people dead.
It was the latest in a wave of Russian aerial attacks that have killed dozens of civilians, defying Trump’s push to bring about a rapid end to the bloodshed.
‘I am not happy with the Russian strikes,’ Trump said on social media. ‘Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!’
Trump, who is accused of favouring Russia and has often vilified Zelensky, was asked by reporters what concessions Moscow had offered in negotiations to end the war.
‘Stopping taking the whole country – pretty big concession,’ he replied.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, hoping to take the country in days, but has since been bogged down in a bloody war with huge casualties on both sides.
Fire brigades in Ukraine respond to a fire caused by massive Russian shelling overnight
Search and rescue operations at the site of the Russian attack on a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 25, 2025
Rescuers pulled two cats out of the rubble of a residential building destroyed by Russian missile in Kyiv, according to reports on Telegram. The frightened but unharmed animals were handed over to the Ukrainian Red Cross
Zelensky, who cut his trip to South Africa short to deal with the aftermath of Thursday’s strikes, questioned whether Kyiv’s allies were doing enough to force Putin to agree to a full and unconditional ceasefire.
‘I don’t see any strong pressure on Russia or any new sanctions packages against Russia’s aggression,’ Zelensky said, highlighting that Trump had previously warned of repercussions if Moscow did not agree to pause the fighting.
Trump on Wednesday had accused Zelensky of frustrating peace efforts by ruling out recognising Russia’s claim over Crimea, a territory the US president said was ‘lost years ago’.
‘We do everything that our partners have proposed; only what contradicts our legislation and the Constitution we cannot do,’ Zelensky said in response to a question about Crimea.
In contrast, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday it was Moscow, not Kyiv, that needed to move forward in negotiations.
‘The balls are clearly in the Russian court now,’ Rutte told reporters at the White House after meeting Trump.