Kyiv
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Russia launched its biggest airstrike against Ukraine overnight this month, killing at least three people and injuring at least 17 others, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as the Ukrainian leader briefed his negotiating team face-to-face for the first time after returning from talks in the United States.
“Russia is carrying out a major attack against Ukraine,” President Zelenskiy wrote on X, adding that more than 650 drones and more than 30 missiles were used in the attack. He said 13 regions, about half of the country, were attacked.
Zelenskyy said a four-year-old child was killed when a Russian drone struck a residential building in the western region of Zhytomyr.
Meanwhile, emergency power outages were imposed across Ukraine, with some areas left almost completely without power due to the attack, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said.
The shelling came after new talks to end the war concluded in Miami over the weekend. There, Ukrainian and Russian officials met separately with a U.S. delegation led by White House envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The Ukrainian delegation returned to Kiev overnight and submitted what President Zelenskiy called a “detailed report” of the talks.
“So far everything is not perfect, but this plan is being implemented,” the Ukrainian leader wrote in X overnight, referring to the 20-point document that forms the core of the agreed framework between Ukraine and the United States.
Zelenskiy wrote that in addition to the core plan, which includes security “between us, the European countries and the United States,” there is also an additional document detailing bilateral security between Ukraine and the United States. On the latter point, “we are very close to the actual results,” he said.
In addition to security, previous talks have also emphasized the centrality of territory in negotiations, and President Zelenskiy did not comment in an evening statement on his readiness to discuss a possible land swap.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly signaled that he would not compromise on Ukraine’s demands for ceding territory in the Donbas, despite the Trump administration’s increased peace push.
In an apparent attempt to dampen expectations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian newspaper Izvestia on Monday that talks between Russian and American officials over the weekend should not be seen as a breakthrough.
“This is a working process. I have already said that it first requires a very thorough working process at an expert level,” Peskov said.
Witkov, who led the U.S. delegation to the Miami talks, said Russia “remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine” after meeting with Russian sovereign wealth fund (RDIF) head and Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev over the weekend.
He issued a statement with similar language after meeting with the Ukrainian delegation. “Ukraine remains fully committed to achieving a just and sustainable peace,” Witkov said, noting that the talks were “constructive” and included discussions on “the order of next steps.”
Separately from the Florida meeting, President Zelenskyy warned Ukraine’s military to be on alert for the possibility of a Russian attack around Christmas, noting the country’s lack of air defenses to protect it.
The Ukrainian leader said the recent attacks “send a very clear signal about Russia’s priorities.”
He said this was an attack “just before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, in their homes and safe.” “This attack took place during negotiations aimed essentially at ending this war.”
CNN’s Hira Humayun, Nina Sabkumberdina and Tim Lister contributed reporting.
