A ceasefire deal appears distant as energy facilities are hit in Ukraine and Russia says a drone has killed two people.
Russian attacks have left thousands without power in Ukraine, while a drone attack killed two people in Russia, as United States-led peace talks on ending the war, deep in its fourth year, press on.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russian night-time attacks damaged more than a dozen civilian facilities, disrupting power in seven regions.
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“It is important that everyone now sees what Russia is doing… for this is clearly not about ending the war,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “They still aim to destroy our state and inflict maximum pain on our people.”
Kyiv and its Western allies have repeatedly said 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 “weaponising” the cold.
Russian attacks left parts of the Kherson region, including the regional capital, Kherson, without power, according to regional head Oleksandr Prokudin.
Drone on Russia’s Saratov region
Russian authorities in the southwestern Saratov region, home to an important Russian army base, said a drone killed two people and damaged a residential building. Several windows were also blown out at a kindergarten and clinic.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it had shot down 41 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.
The latest round of attacks came after Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov said on Friday that Russian police and National Guard will stay on in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, which comprises the fiercely contested Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and oversee the industry-rich region, even if a peace settlement ends Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has rejected Moscow’s demands to maintain its presence in Donbas post-war as US-led negotiations drag on.
Germany is set to host Zelenskyy on Monday for talks as peace efforts gain momentum and European leaders seek to steer negotiations. US negotiators have for months tried to navigate the demands of each side as US President Donald Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war.
The search for possible compromises has run into a major obstacle over who keeps Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Russian forces. Ukraine, the US and European powers are also still trying to outline the contours of security guarantees for Kyiv that could be accepted by Moscow.
In the absence of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the conflict, hostilities recently intensified in the Black Sea, with Russian forces attacking two Ukrainian ports and damaging three Turkish-owned vessels, including a ship carrying food supplies.
An attack on the city of Odesa on Friday caused grain silos to catch fire at the port, according to Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister, Oleksii Kuleba. Posting video footage on social media of firefighters tackling a blaze on board what he described as a “civilian vessel” in Chornomorsk, Zelenskyy said the Russian attacks “had no … military purpose whatsoever”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday warned that the Black Sea should not turn into an “area of confrontation”.
“Everyone needs safe navigation in the Black Sea,” Erdogan said, calling for a “limited ceasefire” in attacks on ports and energy facilities. Turkiye controls the Bosphorus Strait, a key passage for transporting Ukrainian grain and Russian oil towards the Mediterranean.
