"Spit In The Face": Zelensky Slams "Brazen" Russian Attack On Kindergarten

A Russian drone struck a kindergarten in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Wednesday, killing one person and injurinshowed g seven others, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

A video shared by Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed rescuers and police personnel rushing to carry crying children out of the building while emergency workers tried to contain the fire. According to the ministry, 50 children were evacuated from the kindergarten.

Rescuers and police evacuated nearly 50 children after a Russian drone struck their kindergarten in Kharkiv on the morning of October 22.

Tiny hands clung to those protecting them, while emergency workers contained the blaze. One person was killed, and at least seven others were… pic.twitter.com/1n08o9BiNo

— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) October 22, 2025

"All the children have been evacuated and are now in shelters," Zelensky wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "As of now, seven people have been injured and are receiving medical care. Preliminary reports indicate that many are showing acute stress reactions."

Calling the strike "Russia's spit in the face to everyone who insists on a peaceful resolution," Zelensky said the attack proved Moscow had not faced enough pressure to end the ongoing war.

"There is no justification for a drone strike on a kindergarten, nor can there ever be. Clearly, Russia is growing more brazen," he said, condemning the latest wave of attacks on civilians.

Trump Shelves Planned Summit With Putin

The attack came just hours after US President Donald Trump announced that his planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest had been postponed. Trump said he did not want a "wasted meeting," after the Kremlin rejected calls for a ceasefire along current front lines.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said preparations for the summit were still ongoing. "A date has yet to be agreed upon and careful preparation is needed," Peskov said, adding that the meeting is "a mutual desire of both presidents."
Speaking in Oslo after arriving in Norway, Zelensky told reporters that Trump's idea to freeze the front line could be a "good compromise", but he doubted Putin would agree. "I said it to the president," he added.
The drone strike on Kharkiv followed a series of overnight attacks on Ukraine's capital and surrounding areas.
In Kyiv, a husband and wife in their 60s were killed when a drone hit their apartment block. Four others, including a 36-year-old woman, her six-month-old baby, and a 12-year-old girl, when their home in Pohreby village near Kyiv caught fire after a Russian strike.