Ukraine reports that Russia has launched its largest drone assault since the full-scale invasion began, targeting several regions, including Kyiv, where one person was killed.
By 08:00 Sunday (05:00 GMT), Ukraine’s air force said 273 drones had been launched, hitting the central Kyiv region, as well as Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk in the east.
It explained that among the drones were Shahed attack drones, with 88 intercepted and 128 going astray “without negative consequences.”
The attack came a day before a scheduled call between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid US calls for a ceasefire.
Leaders from Germany, Britain, France, and Poland are set to meet virtually with Trump before his conversation with Putin on Monday.
Friday’s face-to-face talks in Turkey, the first between Russia and Ukraine in over three years, resulted only in a prisoner swap deal.
Ukrainian officials said the strikes demonstrate Moscow’s unwillingness to seek peace despite international pressure.
“For Russia, the Istanbul negotiations are just a pretence. Putin wants war,” said Andriy Yermak, a top aide to the Ukrainian president.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Pope Leo at the Vatican on Sunday following the pontiff’s inauguration, and later held a brief discussion with US Vice President JD Vance in Rome.
BBC/Maxwell Oyekunle
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