Kyiv, Jun 20 (AP) A Russian missile strike on a nine-story Kyiv apartment building was a sign that more pressure must be applied on Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday, as Moscow intensifies attacks in the war.

The drone and missile attack on Kyiv early Tuesday, the deadliest assault on the capital this year, killed 28 people across the city and wounded 142 others, Kyiv Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said.

Zelenskyy, along with the head of the presidential office, Andrii Yermak, and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, visited the site of the apartment building in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district on Thursday morning, laying flowers and paying tribute to the 23 people who died there after a direct hit by a missile brought down the structure.

“This attack is a reminder to the world that Russia rejects a ceasefire and chooses killing,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, and thanked Ukraine's partners who he said are ready to pressure Russia to “feel the real cost of the war.” Intensifying attacks Tuesday's attack on Kyiv was part of a sweeping barrage as Russia once again sought to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in what Zelenskyy called one of the biggest bombardments of the war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.

As Russia proceeds with a summer offensive on parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, US-led peace efforts have failed to gain traction. Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected an offer from US President Donald Trump for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, making it conditional on a halt on Ukraine's mobilization effort and a freeze on Western arms supplies.

Meanwhile, Middle East tensions and US trade tariffs have drawn away world attention from Ukraine's pleas for more diplomatic and economic pressure to be placed on Moscow.

In recent weeks, Russia has intensified long-range attacks that have struck urban residential areas. Yet on Wednesday, Putin denied that his military had struck such targets, saying that attacks were “against military industries, not residential quarters.” Putin told senior news leaders of international news agencies in St. Petersburg, Russia, that he was open to talks with Zelenskyy, but repeated his accusation that the Ukrainian leader had lost his legitimacy after his term expired last year — allegations rejected by Kyiv and its allies.

“We are ready for substantive talks on the principles of a settlement,” Putin said, noting that a previous round of talks in Istanbul had led to an exchange of prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers.

Prisoners exchanged A new round of such exchanges took place in Ukraine's Chernihiv region on Thursday, involving the repatriation of Ukrainian prisoners of war who, according to Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War or KSHPPV, were suffering from severe health issues caused by injuries and prolonged detention.

The exchange was confirmed by Russia's Defense Ministry, which released a video of Russian servicemen at an exchange area in Belarus after being released in the prisoner swap.

Commenting on the exchange, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram: “We are working to get our people back. Thank you to everyone who helps make these exchanges possible. Our goal is to free each and every one.” Many of the exchanged Ukrainian POWs had spent over three years in captivity, with a large number captured during the defense of the now Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in 2022, according to the KSHPPV, which added that preparations for another prisoner exchange are ongoing.

In St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin praised Trump's push for peace in Ukraine. But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Thursday that it was his country that had “unconditionally accepted” the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire, and said that Russian claims of willingness to end the war were “manipulations.” “It has been exactly 100 days since Ukraine unconditionally accepted the U.S. peace proposal to completely cease fire, put an end to the killing, and move forward with a genuine peace process ... 100 days of Russia escalating terror against Ukraine rather than ending it,” Sybiha wrote.

“Ukraine remains committed to peace. Unfortunately, Russia continues to choose war, disregarding US efforts to end the killing,” he added.

Overnight on Wednesday, Russia fired a barrage of 104 Shahed and decoy drones across Ukraine, according to the country's air force. Of those, 88 were intercepted, jammed, or lost from radars mid-flight.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage caused by the attack. (AP) MNK MNK