Russia launches massive drone attack on Ukraine ahead of ceasefire negotiations – State
At least seven people were killed after Russia launched a drone throughout Ukraine, according to local Ukraine officials and emergency services.
The attack on the Ukrainian capital was ahead of the ceasefire negotiations in Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine and Russia are expected to hold indirect U.S.-mediated talks on Monday to discuss the suspension of a long-term attack on energy facilities and civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Voldomymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian delegation is expected to meet with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia the day before indirect negotiations. Ukraine plans to send a technical team to discuss details of a partial ceasefire.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 147 drones in Ukraine. Due to Ukraine's countermeasures, Ukrainian air defense shot down 97 and 25 people but failed to achieve the target. The attacks attacked Kharkif, Sumi, Chernishev, Odessa and Donetsk regions, as well as the capital Kiev.
Three people, including a five-year-old child, were killed and 10 others were injured in a drone attack on Kiev, the city's military authority said. The Ukrainian capital was in the early hours of the evening, and the explosions extended because the air strikes lasted for more than five hours. Russian drones and debris that flew from lower altitudes to escape air defense fell on residential buildings.
Ukrainians investigated the damage caused to their homes and communities on Sunday morning at the scene of the attack in Kiev. Many have devalued the upcoming ceasefire negotiations, pointing out that the houses burned in the drone strike were burned, saying that the houses were more like Russia’s true intentions.
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Dmytro Zapadnya, 37, was damaged in an ancient multi-storey building on the left bank of Kiev, said he had no confidence in Russia's lack of any ceasefire agreement.
“It doesn't make sense to sign anything with the Russians because it's not worth the cost of paper where you put this signature. Well, the only thing that is not so pleasant is that now the United States seems to have little understanding of our situation.”
Vadym Filashkin said four people were killed in the Russian attack on the Donetsk region of Ukraine, including three people who died in a strike in the Ukrainian frontline Ukrainian town of Dobropillya.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media that attacks occur every day in Ukraine.
“This week alone, more than 1,580 navigation bombs were used, nearly 1,100 strike drones and 15 missiles of all kinds of bombs with our people,” he said. “New solutions are needed, and new pressures in Moscow are to stop these two strikes and this war.”
Also on Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had shot down 59 Ukrainian drones, including 29 in the Rostov region and 20 in the southwestern Astrakhan. According to Yuri Slyusar, the interim governor of the region, in Rostov, a person caught fire due to a Ukrainian drone attack and a car caught fire.
A woman also died in the Russian border village of Novostroyevka-Pervaya in the Bergorod region when Ukrainian drone hit her traveling car.
Local Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the driver was the woman's daughter and was seriously injured in the attack.
Associated Press reporter Bela Szandelszky contributed.
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