NNA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Russia's large-scale missile attack on Kyiv, the deadliest strike on the Ukrainian capital in months, was designed to put "pressure" on the United States.

He also insisted that Kyiv would not change its position on Crimea -- after US President Donald Trump criticised him for not agreeing to cede the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

Zelensky is visiting South Africa but has said he will cut his trip short to return to Kyiv -- hit at dawn by the biggest Russian attack since last summer -- after his talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

"Russia understands that Ukraine is standing up, defending its rights and (it) is putting pressure on our people. It is also putting pressure on America," Zelensky told journalists in South Africa. "This is what I also link today's attack with." -- AFP

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