Russia launched a large drone attack overnight into Saturday which damaged several buildings in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, according to the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Klitschko said drones hit a private house and a non-residential building, injuring at least three people.
Footage from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service showed crews still trying to put out fires after sunrise. It said three warehouses across the city caught fire in the attack.
It came amid wider strikes on several Ukrainian regions.
The general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Russia launched 88 drones at targets across the country, 56 of which were downed.
In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, one person sustained minor injuries because of Russian drone strikes there, according to mayor Ihor Terekhov.
Ukraine’s Khortytsia operational-strategic group, a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, reported on Saturday that Russian forces are regrouping to prepare for a renewed military offensive in the Kharkiv region.
They said in a statement that although no offensive actions were taken so far, Russian troops are replenishing their units to resume operations.
European countries vowed Friday to send €21 billion in further funding to help Ukraine keep fighting Russia’s invasion. At the same time, US envoy Steve Witkoff was in St. Petersburg to pursue peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Witkoff’s meeting with Putin lasted 4 1/2 hours, and cited the Kremlin as saying that the two discussed “aspects” of ending the war, without providing any details.
Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, with the war now in its fourth year. Ukraine has endorsed a US ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet.
The Russian delay in accepting Washington’s proposal has frustrated Trump and fuelled doubts about whether Putin really wants to stop the fighting and end the more than three-year war.
Additional sources • AP
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