Ukraine says Russia launched major aerial attack ahead of Geneva talks with US

Illia Novikov, Associated Press

Russia launched a barrage of 420 drones and 39 missiles at Ukraine overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as US and Ukrainian envoys prepare to hold more talks in Geneva on ending the war that is now in its fifth year.

The nighttime bombardment, which included 11 ballistic missiles, targeted critical infrastructure and residential areas across eight regions of Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said.

Dozens of people, including children, were injured, officials said, although authorities did not immediately publish a confirmed total.

Mr Zelensky said late on Wednesday that he had spoken by phone with US President Donald Trump and thanked him for his “efforts and engagement” in pursuing peace negotiations.

The US-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv are continuing but are deadlocked on the issue of the future of Ukrainian territory that Russia claims as its own.

Trump representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who were also discussing nuclear negotiations with Iran in Geneva before turning to the war in Europe, were due to meet with Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s national security and defence council. They also joined Mr Trump’s call with Mr Zelensky.

Washington is looking to keep momentum in its yearlong push to stop the fighting and overcome deep enmity between the warring countries.

Ukrainian and European officials have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of feigning interest in peace negotiations, hoping to avoid punitive US measures such as additional sanctions while pressing forward with the invasion.

Thursday’s talks between the American and Ukrainian envoys were to address details of a possible post-war recovery plan for Ukraine and discuss preparations for an upcoming trilateral meeting with Moscow officials, perhaps next week, according to Mr Zelensky.

He said he had also tasked Mr Umerov with discussing a possible prisoner exchange.

Russia returned 1,000 bodies of fallen soldiers to Ukraine, and received 35 bodies of its fallen troops, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation at previous talks with Ukraine, said on Thursday. He did not say when the exchange happened.

Russia struck gas infrastructure in the Poltava region and electrical substations in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Mr Zelensky said. Emergency crews responded in five other regions, as well as in the capital.

Air defences

Ukraine’s air defences shot down most of the Russian missiles, Mr Zelensky said, crediting western partners for timely delivery of additional air defence interceptors.

Ukraine needs foreign help to sustain its fight against Russia’s bigger forces.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha urged allied countries to provide more military aid.

“When the whole world demands Moscow to finally stop this senseless war, Putin bets on more terror, attacks and aggression,” Mr Sybiha said in a post on the ministry of foreign affairs website.