Russia launches largest drone attack against Ukraine since beginning of war, Ukrainian military says
Russia launched 273 Shahed drones in one night, the Ukrainian Air Force said, predominantly targeting the central Kyiv region.
A 28-year-old woman was killed, and three others including a four-year-old child were injured, according to Mykola Kalashnik, the governor of the Kyiv region.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the head of Ukraine's parliament, said in a social media post Sunday: 'The air raid alarm lasted almost nine hours. This is what Putin's 'sincere desire for peace' looks like.'
The attack destroyed residential buildings, damaged a high-rise and set garages on fire, Stefanchuk wrote, adding: 'This is terror in its purest form.'
The 'massive attack' caused a number of fires, Ukraine's emergency services also said, adding that 55 rescue workers had been deployed.
Elsewhere, Russian shelling killed one person and injured eight in the Donetsk region Saturday, according to the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin. Russian drones also targeted the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, regional military chiefs said.
The latest assault comes after a Russian drone attack on a bus in Ukraine's northeastern region of Sumy killed at least nine people and injured seven Saturday, just hours after the two countries met for the first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Russia's 2022 invasion.
The negotiations in Turkey failed to produce a major breakthrough. The two countries discussed a possible meeting between their presidents, a ceasefire and agreed a prisoner swap.
The talks capped days of back-and-forth: Russia's President Vladimir Putin called for the face-to-face meeting but did not attend himself, instead sending a junior delegation after rejecting Ukraine's proposal of a 30-day ceasefire.
During the talks, Russia demanded Ukraine cede land that was still under Kyiv's control, a source familiar with Friday's negotiations told CNN, a position Ukraine has long dismissed. The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland called Russia's stance in the talks 'unacceptable.'
CNN's Victoria Butenko and Nick Paton Walsh contributed reporting.
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CNN
a minute ago
- CNN
White House signals strong momentum toward peace in Ukraine but many questions linger
President Donald Trump's foreign envoy Steve Witkoff — one of three American participants in Friday's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — described on Sunday several major agreements reached during the Alaska talks that he said created strong momentum toward a peace agreement with Ukraine. Witkoff told CNN that Putin had signed off on allowing 'robust' security guarantees as part of an eventual peace accord, including a provision that would provide for a collective defense of Ukraine by the United States and Europe should Russia attempt another invasion. 'We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game changing,' Witkoff told Jake Tapper on 'State of the Union,' adding the Russians had also pledged 'legislative enshrinement' of a promise not to invade Ukraine or another European country in any forthcoming peace plan. Neither provision has been mentioned in Russian accounts of the summit. Witkoff's public description of Friday's summit was the most fulsome yet of what was discussed for nearly three hours behind closed doors in Anchorage. Trump will meet Monday at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and several European leaders to discuss the matter in more detail. Still, many questions remained about how the US is assessing Putin's seriousness about reaching a deal, whether his promises can be trusted after a track record of violating previous peace agreements and what exactly Trump is willing to offer to ensure Ukraine isn't invaded again. Heading into Friday's meeting, Trump said he would be disappointed if a ceasefire wasn't reached and threatened 'severe' consequences on Russia if Putin didn't end the fighting. But as he departed, Trump said he was no longer aiming for an immediate ceasefire and declared 'we don't have to think' about sanctions after the talks. Witkoff said significant progress during the summit led Trump to abandon his push for an immediate ceasefire and instead work toward advancing a larger peace agreement. 'We made so much progress at this meeting with regard to all the other ingredients necessary for a for a peace deal that we, that President Trump, pivoted to that place,' Witkoff said. The other US participant in the talks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, offered a more guarded assessment of how close a peace agreement may be. 'We made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remains some big areas of disagreement. So we're still a long ways off,' he said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'We're not at the precipice of a peace agreement, we're not at the edge of one, but I do think progress was made.' He said later on CBS' 'Face the Nation' that any agreement to end the war would cause disappointment on both sides. 'It may not be pleasant, it may be distasteful, but in order for there to be an end to the war, there are things that Russia wants that it cannot get and there are things that Ukraine wants that it's not going to get,' he said. The agreements Witkoff described will be at the center of meetings Monday between Trump and Zelensky. A large delegation of European officials — including the leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO — will accompany the Ukrainian leader for the talks. European leaders have been pressing Trump to follow through on his threat of tough new economic penalties on Russia, but Rubio cautioned such steps could scuttle progress on a peace deal. 'The minute he takes those steps, all talks stop,' he said. 'The minute we take those steps, there is no one left in the world to go talk to the Russians and try to get them to the table to reach a peace agreement.' A breakout session during Monday's talks at the White House will explore options for security guarantees for Ukraine that would ensure Russia is unable to re-invade the country once a peace deal is in place. Zelensky and European leaders have said such assurances are necessary as part of a peace accord. Witkoff said the clause agreed to by Russia — akin to NATO's 'Article 5' agreement that an attack against one country is an attack against all — was a workaround for Russia's insistence Ukraine never be able to join NATO. He described it as the 'first time we had ever heard the Russians agree' to such a provision being included in a peace deal. What the United States would contribute to the effort — versus the the Europeans — remained unclear. Trump has previously stated clearly that American troops won't be on the ground in Ukraine, and has said the onus is on European nations to take the lead in protecting it. Some officials believe a robust security infrastructure for Ukraine could make it easier for Zelensky to accept some of Russia's demands for land concessions as part of a peace deal. Putin has not abandoned some of his maximalist ideas, including that Ukraine give up the entire eastern Donbas region, where Russia currently occupies large swaths of territory. But Witkoff said Putin did make some concessions on his land requirements, suggested the Russians now see 'land swapping' occurring at the current frontlines of the war rather than the administrative boundaries of at least some of the five regions long in Putin's sights. 'The Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions,' he said, adding the issue would be discussed with Zelensky on Monday and 'hopefully we can cut through and make some decisions right then and there.'
Fox News
a minute ago
- Fox News
Putin has 'no interest' in ceasefire deal, Democratic strategist says
National Review editor-in-chief Rich Lowry and Democratic strategist Meghan Hays join 'MediaBuzz' to discuss media reaction to President Donald Trump's summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Fox News
a minute ago
- Fox News
Trump envoy says Putin made 'robust' concessions during Alaska meeting talks on Ukraine
U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff claims Russian President Vladimir Putin made "robust" steps toward peace during his meeting with President Donald Trump last week. Witkoff made the statement during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" with host Shannon Bream. The official was in the room for the Alaska meeting and has met previously with Putin several times. "We agreed on much more robust security guarantees," Witkoff said. "The Russians agreed on enshrining legislatively language that they would attest to not attempting to take any more land from Ukraine after a peace deal, where they would attest to not violating any European borders." Witkoff also said Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders directly after the meeting. He said the meeting was "absolutely acknowledged as a win." Bream pressed Witkoff to explain why Trump did not push Putin for a ceasefire agreement during the meeting as well. Trump had previously said a ceasefire was a top priority and claimed Putin would face consequences if he didn't agree to one. "The president has always talked about a ceasefire, until he made a lot of different wins in this meeting and began to realize that we could be talking about a peace deal. The ultimate deal here is a peace deal, and we were talking about much more robust security guarantees than anyone ever imagined," he said. In a statement after the call with Trump, major European leaders did not address whether they preferred a peace deal over a ceasefire. The leaders said they "welcomed President Trump's efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia's war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace." Putin described his talks with Trump in Alaska as "very frank." "We, of course, respect the position of the American administration, which sees the need for a speedy end to military actions," Putin said at the follow-up meeting at the Kremlin, adding that "we would like to move to resolving all issues by peaceful means."
