Russian drone attacks kill one in Ukraine as Kremlin hints at new peace talks

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. File Pic.

Russian drones reportedly attacked two Ukrainian cities, killing at least one person in nighttime attacks, authorities said on Friday, as a Kremlin official stated he expected an announcement next week on dates for a fresh round of direct peace talks, reported news agency AP.

Russia's overnight drone assault targeted the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa and the northeastern city of Kharkiv, hitting apartment blocks, officials said.
The barrage of more than twenty drones injured almost two dozen civilians, including girls aged seventeen and twelve, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

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According to AP, "Russia continues its tactics of targeted terror against our people," Zelenskyy said on messaging app Telegram, urging the United States and the European Union to intensify economic pressure on Russia.

Following the recent fresh attacks on the Ukrainian provinces, Russia has shown no signs of relenting in its assaults, more than three years after it invaded its neighbour. It is pressing a summer offensive on parts of the roughly one thousand-kilometre front line and has maintained long-range strikes that have hit civilian areas.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that the date for the next round of peace talks is expected to be agreed upon next week.

According to AP, Kyiv officials have not recently spoken about resuming talks with Russia, which were last held when delegations met in Istanbul on 2nd June, though

Ukraine continues to offer a ceasefire and support US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

However, the two previous rounds of brief talks yielded only agreements on the exchange of prisoners and wounded soldiers.

A fire caused by Russia's nighttime strike on Odesa engulfed a four-storey residential building, which partly collapsed and injured three emergency workers. A separate fire spread across the upper floors of a twenty-three-storey high-rise, leading to the evacuation of around six hundred residents.

Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, at least eight drones hit civilian infrastructure, injuring four people, including two children, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service, reported AP.

Russia launched eighty Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Ukraine's air force said, claiming that air defences shot down or jammed seventy of them.

(With inputs from AP)