Russian attacks kill at least 6 in Ukraine as US, Russia hold peace talks in Abu Dhabi
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Russia launched a wave of attacks against Ukraine on Tuesday, killing at least six people in overnight strikes that hit city buildings and energy infrastructure, while a Ukrainian attack in southern Russia killed three people and damaged homes, authorities said.
The large-scale attacks come amid a renewed U.S. campaign to end the war that has raged for nearly four years and discussions of a U.S.-brokered peace plan. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Russian officials for several hours in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, a U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press.
Driscoll, who joined the U.S. negotiating team less than two weeks ago, is leading the final phase of negotiations over the terms of a possible peace plan with Russia.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, would not provide details on the expected duration of the negotiations or the topics discussed, but noted that the Ukrainians were aware of the meeting and that all sides indicated they wanted to reach an agreement to end the fighting as quickly as possible.
Russia fired 22 missiles of different types and more than 460 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, noting that four drones flew towards Romania and Moldova.
“What is crucial now is that all partners move forward together towards diplomacy, through joint efforts. Pressure on Russia must inevitably bear fruit,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“Putin will not stop”
The Russian strikes cut off water, electricity and heating in parts of the Ukrainian capital, kyiv. Video footage posted on Telegram shows a large-scale fire spreading through a nine-story residential building in the Dniprovskyi district, east of Kyiv.
Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said two people were killed and five injured in Dniprovskyi and another residential building in the central Pecherskyi district was seriously damaged.
Liubov Petrivna, a 90-year-old resident of a damaged building in the Dniprovskyi district, told the AP that “absolutely everything” in her apartment was broken by the strike and that “windows rained down” on her.
Petrivna said she did not believe in the peace plan currently under discussion: “No one will ever do anything about it. Putin will not stop until he is done with us.”
In a subsequent wave of attacks, four people were killed and three others injured in a strike on a non-residential building in the Sviatoshynyi district, west of Kyiv, according to the head of the Kyiv city administration, Tymur Tkachenko.
Ukrainian drones strike Russian city
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry also said energy infrastructure had been hit, without describing the extent of the damage. Ukrainian emergency services said six people, including two children, were injured in a Russian attack on energy and port infrastructure in the Odessa region.
Three people were killed and eight others injured overnight in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Rostov region in southern Russia. The casualties took place in the town of Taganrog, not far from the Ukrainian border, Governor Yuri Slyusar said in an online statement on Tuesday.
The attack damaged private houses and multi-story residential buildings, unspecified social facilities, a warehouse and a paint shop, Slyusar said.
Russian air defenses destroyed 249 Ukrainian drones overnight over various Russian regions and occupied Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday, noting that 116 of them were shot down over the Black Sea.
The U.S.-imposed deadline for a Ukraine peace deal is days away, but despite ongoing talks, key issues remain far from resolved, including whether Ukraine will cede territory to Russia.
The attacks followed talks between representatives of the United States and Ukraine on Sunday in Geneva over a peace plan brokered by the United States and Russia.
Oleksandr Bevz, a delegate from the Ukrainian side, told The Associated Press that the talks were “very constructive” and that the two sides were able to discuss most of the issues.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday morning that Moscow had not received the updated peace plan.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that a U.S.-brokered peace plan for Ukraine “goes in the right direction” but also warned it must not be “a capitulation” allowing Russia to later resume hostilities.
Ukraine’s allies will meet virtually
The French head of state said any peace deal with Moscow must include strong security guarantees for Ukraine and, more broadly, Europe, and he insisted that the size of Ukraine’s armed forces should not be limited so they can defend the country in peacetime.
Macron was speaking to broadcaster RTL ahead of a videoconference meeting on Tuesday of countries, led by France and the United Kingdom, that could help monitor any ceasefire with Russia.
“We want peace but we don’t want peace, this is in fact a capitulation. That is to say, it puts Ukraine in an impossible position, which ultimately gives Russia the freedom to continue, to go further,” Macron said.
