After a ceasefire brokered by first lady Melania Trump went into effect in cities in southern Ukraine, Russia continued to bombard Ukrainian cities throughout the night.
The local ceasefire, scheduled to last until Saturday in Russian-occupied Oreshki near Crimea, began at 3 a.m. local time to allow humanitarian aid to reach residents of the city stranded due to lack of food, water and medicine.
Oreshkiy is located in Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region, across the Dnipro River from the city of Kherson, about 540 miles southeast of Kiev. Russian forces captured the town at the start of the invasion in 2022
The temporary ceasefire in Oreshkiy came after Kiev reported Russian ballistic missile and drone attacks targeting parts of Ukraine’s largest city overnight.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced early Tuesday that Russia had fired up to 16 ballistic missiles and 280 drones, causing casualties.
“Almost everywhere, Russia’s targets were the energy sector, logistics and general urban infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said.
“Strikes are taking place every day. Russia is always taking new steps towards escalation.”
The development comes ahead of a new round of tripartite peace talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States.
Following the visit of US special envoy Steve Witkoff to Europe for separate talks with Mr Zelensky and Mr Putin, the leaders stressed that they were open to negotiations but that security guarantees were essential.
On Tuesday, Putin met with leaders of border countries, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gare Stoer to discuss diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
According to the Norwegian government, Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Store stressed to President Putin in a telephone conversation that both countries need to continue supporting Ukraine and restart negotiations to end the war.
The so-called “energy ceasefire” announced by President Donald Trump on October 11 appears to have yielded no meaningful results.
An agreement with the United States that would see Russia supply diesel to the world market, and recently reported restrictions on military uses of diesel. space x Through the Internet service Starlink, Ukrainian authorities warned that Russia was stepping up attacks on civilian and energy targets.
