Hours after negotiators from Kiev, Moscow and Washington met for the first known tripartite talks since the start of the war and agreed to continue talks over the weekend, Russia has launched the largest night-time air raid on Ukraine so far this year, local officials announced Saturday.
The Ukrainian capital, which activated its air defense system, was targeted by missile and drone attacks, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. CNN journalists in Kiev reported hearing explosions.
The attack left at least one person dead and four injured, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. He added that falling debris started fires, damaged buildings, left about 6,000 apartment buildings without heat and cut off water in other parts of the city. As of Saturday morning local time, the temperature in Kiev was -12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit).
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast, was also attacked, with the strike damaging a maternity hospital and a dormitory for displaced residents, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. At least 19 people were injured, including one child.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Saturday that Russia launched a total of more than 370 drones and 21 missiles overnight, with other targets including Sumy and Chernihiv. He added that the attack focused on Ukraine’s energy sector, which is “critical” during the cold winter.
The attack occurred shortly after delegations from both countries concluded their first day of talks with US representatives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Russia sent a military team that included top spies and the head of military intelligence. Ukraine sent top negotiators, including diplomats and security officials. The United States was represented by President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum.
The meeting likely focused on the territory, the mineral-rich eastern region of Ukraine known as Donbass, which has important rivers and fertile farmland. Russia has long demanded that Kiev give up parts of Donbass it still controls, but Ukraine has repeatedly refused.
The Trump administration has been pressuring Ukraine to accept the peace deal, despite widespread concerns that it could favor Russia.
Almost four years after launching a full-scale invasion of its neighboring country, Russia has occupied about 20% of the territory recognized under international law as part of the sovereign state of Ukraine. This includes almost the entire Luhansk region and parts of the Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia regions.
After the day’s talks, Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s top negotiator, wrote to X that the talks were focused on achieving a “dignified and lasting peace” and thanked the United States for their mediation.
“An additional meeting is scheduled for tomorrow,” he said.
Zelenskyy sounded cautious, saying it was “premature” to draw conclusions from Friday’s meeting. “We will see how the talks go tomorrow and what the outcome will be,” he said in his subsequent daily address.
He said the “important thing” of the talks was that Russia was finally ready to end the war, adding: “Ukraine’s position is clear. I have set out a framework for dialogue for our delegation.”
