Russia launched an intense aerial assault on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, marking a second consecutive night of ferocious attacks on the country, as Russia ramps up its bombardment more than three years into the war.

By Frank Jack Daniel and Angelo Amante KYIV/ROME (Reuters) -Russia unleashed heavy airstrikes on Ukraine on Thursday before a conference in Rome at which Kyiv won billions of dollars in aid pledges, and U.

A t least two people were killed in Kyiv and 16 others were injured across Ukraine in an overnight Russian drone and missile bombardment, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday morning.

Kazakhstan, whose close ties with Russia and China have made it a significant regional player in Central Asia, has said it is ready to reach a compromise with the Trump administration over tariffs due to take effect next month.

Kyiv was the main target of an hourslong assault that killed at least two people, officials said. The barrage came hours before the top American and Russian diplomats met.

ANDREA KENDALL-TAYLOR is Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. From 2015 to 2018, she was Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council.

Russian media have been reacting to Trump's growing criticism of Putin, the most recent being on Tuesday when he accused the Russian leader of peddling "bulls***" over his intentions in Ukraine, after rejecting U.S. ceasefire proposals.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday that the BRICS group is not an anti-American group and that it will not listen to "language of threats and manipulation".