Russia and Ukraine launched airstrikes overnight against each other ahead of ceasefire talks between U.S. President, Donald Trump, and Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
The cross-border drone and missile assaults continued despite a U.S.-led proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the ongoing war.
Russia’s large-scale attack involving more than 130 drones hit critical infrastructure across Ukraine, leaving thousands without electricity causing power outages in central Ukraine.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia, around 3,000 people lost access to electricity after the strikes damaged key infrastructure, according to the regional governor, Ivan Fedorov.
In the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian attacks ignited a fire at another critical facility as their forces pressed forward.
In Kyiv, authorities reported that debris from a downed Russian drone landed in a school courtyard at the start of the school day. Fortunately, students had already taken shelter at the time of the incident.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced it had intercepted and shot down 63 of the 137 Russian drones launched overnight.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry reported that Ukrainian forces had launched 46 drones targeting several regions inside Russia.
The ministry claimed all drones were “destroyed or intercepted” over Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Orlov, which shares a border with Ukraine.
However, the strikes wounded at least six people, according to AFP, citing local authorities.
In Belgorod, a man suffered serious injuries from falling drone debris, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
In Kursk, five people were injured when drones struck near a truck carrying bread, interim governor Alexander Khinstein stated.
The latest wave of attacks came just hours before Trump and Putin were set to discuss the possibility of halting the war, which has lasted for three years.
Trump had on Sunday evening, told reporters that he would be speaking with Putin to reach a deal for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week.
“We will see if we have something to announce, maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,” Trump said.
“A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” he added.
Putin, however, maintained that the agreement needs to meet conditions favourable to Russians, for it to be acceptable.
Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed the meeting on Monday but declined to provide further details, stating that “the content of conversations between two presidents is not subject to prior discussion.”
The upcoming discussion could mark significant progress in resolving the conflict and further shape Trump’s foreign policy approach.
Trump indicated that territorial divisions and power infrastructure are key topics in the discussions aimed at ending the war.
Ukraine, Russia Exchange Missiles Amid U.S Ceasefire Push is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
