Russian missiles on Tuesday crashed into schools, hospitals and kindergartens in central Ukraine, killing at least 19 people and wounding nearly 300 in a region coming under mounting pressure.

The attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Netherlands to meet with allies on the sidelines of the NATO defense summit.

He is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss new sanctions on Russia and wepons deliveries, a senior Ukrainian source told AFP.

Trump has struggled to deliver on his vow to quickly end the Ukraine war, now in its fourth year.

His bitter clash with Zelensky at the White House in February stunned Ukraine’s Western allies.

Zelensky has since been at pains to try to mend the relationship and the pair had a brief sit-down at the Vatican in April.

In the aftermath of Moscow’s latest attack, emergency services in the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region, now threatened by Russian battlefield advances, published photos of rescuers helping civilians covered in blood.

“Putin destroys lives, that’s how he defines control. If he can kill people, destroy homes, blackmail others, he believes he has power,” Zelensky said on X.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the strikes amounted to a “rejection of peace” from Russia, which has rebuffed U.S. and Ukrainian ceasefire proposals.

“It is a matter of credibility for allies to step up pressure on Moscow,” Sybiha said.