A ceasefire deal appears to be far away after energy facilities have been hit in Ukraine and Russia says a drone has killed two people.
Russian strikes left tens of thousands of people powerless in Ukraine, while a drone strike killed two people in Russia, as United States-led peace talks entered their fourth year to end the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russian night strikes damaged more than a dozen civilian facilities and cut power in seven regions.
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“It’s important for everyone to see what Russia is doing now … because it’s clearly not about ending the war,” Zelensky 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 Crippling the Ukrainian power grid And citizens have been denied access to heat, light and running water for the fourth winter in a row, in what Ukrainian officials call a “weaponizing” cold.
According to regional chief Oleksandr Prokudin, Russian attacks left parts of the Kherson region, including the regional capital, Kherson, without power.
Drone over Russia’s Saratov region
Russian officials in the southwestern Saratov region, home to a key Russian military base, said a drone killed two people and damaged a residential building. Many windows of kindergartens and clinics were also blown out.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight inside Russian territory.
The latest round of attacks came after Kremlin adviser Yuriy Ushakov said on Friday that Russian police and the National Guard would remain in the Donbass, which includes eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and patrol the industry-rich region, even if a peace settlement ends Russia’s nearly four-year war with the U.N.
Ukraine has rejected Moscow’s demand that it maintain its presence in the Donbass after the war as US-led negotiations move forward.
Germany is set to host Zelenskiy on Monday as peace efforts gain momentum and European leaders try to boost negotiations. US negotiators have spent months trying to navigate each side’s demands as US President Donald Trump calls for an early end to the war with Russia.
A potential compromise has been hampered by who holds Ukrainian territory currently held by Russian forces. Ukraine, the US and European powers are still trying to outline security guarantees for Kiev that could be accepted by Moscow.
With negotiations to end the conflict unsuccessful, hostilities in the Black Sea recently escalated, with Russian forces attacking two Ukrainian ports and damaging three. Turkish owned shipsincluding a ship carrying food supplies.
According to Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Reconstruction, Friday’s attack on the city of Odessa caused a fire at a grain silo at the port. Posting video footage on social media of firefighters tackling the blaze in what he described as a “civilian ship” in Chornomorsk, Zelensky said the Russian attacks “had no … military motive”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Saturday that the Black Sea should not become a “conflict zone”.
“Everyone needs safe navigation in the Black Sea,” Erdogan said, calling for a “limited ceasefire” in attacks on ports and energy facilities. Turkey controls the Bosphorus Strait, a major route for transporting Ukrainian grain and Russian oil to the Mediterranean.