“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Ukraine’s state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia, the country’s largest carrier, said on Telegram that the attack on Kyiv forced them to divert a number of passenger trains, causing delays.

Russian air strikes on Kyiv have intensified in recent weeks and included some of the deadliest assaults of the war on the city of three million people.

‘No progress at all’ in Trump-Putin talk

A decision by Washington this week to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against intensifying air strikes and battlefield advances.

Russian strikes on Kyiv have intensified and included some of the deadliest assaults on the city. Source: AP / Ukrainian Emergency Service

On Friday, Zelenskyy called for increased pressure on Moscow to change its “dumb, destructive behaviour”.