Ukraine Faces Sustained Russian Barrage Before Planned Talks

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Ukraine came under one of the longest barrages from Russian missiles and drones early Sunday, with air sirens lasting for more then 9 hours, ahead of planned talks between Kyiv and Moscow this week.

A strike on a military training center killed 12 people and wounded 60 others, Ukraine's Land Forces said in a Facebook post, without providing details of the center's location. Another person was killed and at least a dozen injured while residential areas, as well as civilian infrastructure, were damaged in central Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, southern Odesa and northern Kharkiv regions, local authorities reported on Telegram.

The capital Kyiv and surrounding region also came under attack beginning Saturday night, with local governor Mykola Kalashnyk saying that Russia has increased the number of strike drones to attack civilian settlements. There were no injuries, though a dozen residential houses were damaged, he added.

“While Russia claims to be preparing for meetings to discuss peace, what it actually does is attack, terrorize, and destroy,” Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.

The attack came ahead of a planned second round of negotiations to end the war, preliminary scheduled for Monday in Istanbul. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday announced“new diplomatic steps” with Europe and the US, while reiterating that there's still no clear information about what exactly the Russians plan to bring to the table for talks.

“We don't have it, Türkiye doesn't have it, the United States doesn't have it either, and neither do other partners. And at this point, it looks far from serious,” Zelenskiy said in his regular address to the nation late Saturday.“For now, however, we are only seeing new Russian strikes and new Russian assaults.”

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