Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday, after US and Ukrainian officials said they’ll meet on Saturday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly 4yearold war.
Russia carried out one of its largest overnight assaults on Ukraine in months, launching waves of missiles and drones late Friday into Saturday as officials from Washington and Kyiv prepared for a third consecutive day of negotiations aimed at finding a path to end the nearly four-year conflict.
According to Ukraine’s air force, the barrage involved 653 drones and 51 missiles, setting off air-raid sirens nationwide and coinciding with the country’s Armed Forces Day. Ukrainian defenders intercepted 585 of the drones and 30 of the missiles, though the military reported that 29 sites were still hit.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said at least eight people were injured in the overnight strikes. Regional authorities added that three of those wounded were in the Kyiv area. Drone activity was also detected deep in western Ukraine, including in the Lviv region.
Russia carried out a “massive missile-drone attack” on power stations and other energy infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions, Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, wrote on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that energy facilities were the main targets of the attacks, also noting that a drone strike had “burned down” the train station in the city of Fastiv, located in the Kyiv region.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defences had shot down 116 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight into Saturday.
Russian Telegram news channel Astra said Ukraine struck Russia’s Ryazan Oil Refinery, sharing footage appearing to show a fire breaking out and plumes of smoke rising above the refinery. The Associated Press could not independently verify the video.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the alleged attack. Ryazan regional Gov. Pavel Malkov said a residential building had been damaged in a drone attack and that drone debris had fallen on the grounds of an “industrial facility,” but did not mention the refinery.
Months of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries have aimed to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the war. Meanwhile, Kyiv and its western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.
The latest round of attacks came as U.S. President Donald Trump’s advisers and Ukrainian officials said they’ll meet for a third day of talks on Saturday, after making progress on finding agreement on a security framework for postwar Ukraine.
Following Friday’s talks, the two sides also offered the sober assessment that any “real progress toward any agreement” ultimately will depend “on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace.”
The statement from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov came after they met for a second day in Florida on Friday. They offered only broad brushstrokes about the progress they say has been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a U.S.-mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war.
With inputs from agencies
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