Russian attacks kill 3 as diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine gain momentum
Teh article reports that Russian drone and missile attacks around Kyiv killed at least three people and wounded several others. Amid these attacks, Ukrainian officials traveled to the U.S. to advance diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the ongoing war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s delegation, led by national security chief Rustem Umerov, is working closely with American negotiators, while a U.S.team plans to visit moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Simultaneously occurring, former U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed a 28-point peace plan heavily favoring Russia and is sending envoys to both Moscow and Kyiv to facilitate negotiations. Zelensky also announced the resignation of his chief of staff and lead negotiator, andrii Yermak, after an anti-corruption investigation, which poses challenges to Ukraine’s negotiating position.
In parallel, Ukrainian special forces struck a major Russian oil terminal near Novorossiysk using naval drones, damaging its operations. This attack is part of ongoing Ukrainian efforts to target Russian energy infrastructure to undermine Moscow’s war funding. Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of deliberately targeting Ukraine’s power grid to inflict civilian suffering during the harsh winter by cutting off heat,electricity,and water.
Russian attacks kill 3 as diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine gain momentum
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drone and missile attacks in and around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, killed at least three people early Saturday, officials said, as the country’s representatives traveled to the U.S. to work on a renewed push to end the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X that the delegation, headed by national security chief Rustem Umerov, was on its way to “swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war.” A U.S. delegation is then expected to travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of next week.
The Kyiv City Military Administration said two people were killed in the strikes on the capital, and a woman died and eight were wounded in a combined missile and drone attack on the broader Kyiv region, according to the regional police.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 29 people were wounded in Kyiv, noting that falling debris from intercepted Russian drones hit residential buildings. He also said the western part of Kyiv had lost power.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week released a plan for ending the nearly four-year war. The 28-point proposal heavily favored Russia, prompting Zelensky to quickly engage with American negotiators. European leaders, fearing for their own future in the face of Russian aggression, scrambled to steer the negotiations toward accommodating their concerns.
Trump said Tuesday that his plan to end the war had been “fine-tuned” and that he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet with Putin and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Ukrainian officials. He suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelensky, but not until further progress has been made in negotiations.
Zelensky announced Friday the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, who was also the country’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S, after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak’s residence.
The unprecedented search at the heart of Ukraine’s government was a blow to the Ukrainian leader, risking the disruption of his negotiating strategy at a time when Kyiv is under intense U.S. pressure to sign a peace deal.
Ukrainian special forces strike a Russian oil terminal
In Russia, a major oil terminal near the port of Novorossiysk stopped operations Saturday after a strike by unmanned boats damaged one of its three mooring points, according to a press release from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which owns the terminal.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, confirmed that Ukraine had carried out the attack.
“Ukrainian special forces worked on the Russian Federation, its energy sector and infrastructure. In particular, naval drones managed to destroy one of the three oil tanker berths of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the Novorossiysk area,” he wrote on Telegram.
DEMOCRATS NEED TO TEMPER THEIR EXPECTATIONS OF A 2026 BLUE WAVE
Months of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries and terminals have aimed to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the war.
Meanwhile, Kyiv and its western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the biting cold.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
