Russia says its military campaign in Ukraine will continue unabated despite planned US-brokered negotiations on ending the war, although Moscow has indicated it may support limited local ceasefires on humanitarian grounds.
The Kremlin said it was willing to consider temporary truces along parts of the front line before a broader ceasefire takes effect in the devastated Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.
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The pause in fighting is due to begin early tomorrow in the southern Ukrainian city, following months of reports that residents had been struggling to obtain food, water and medicine. The arrangement was brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
Asked whether Russia might agree to additional localized ceasefires, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “For humanitarian purposes, absolutely.”
But Mr Peskov stressed that the planned resumption of three-way negotiations would not affect Russia’s military operations.
“The decision to resume trilateral talks does not imply any restrictions on combat operations,” he said.
“Our armed forces continue to carry out massive strikes on Ukraine’s military industrial complex,” he added.
A damaged vehicle after a Russian airstrike in Yasnogirka, Ukraine
Elsewhere, two men were killed and 17 people, including a child, were injured in a drone attack in Russia’s Voronezh region, regional governor Alexander Gusev said.
Air defence units destroyed 113 drones over the region, Mr Gusev wrote on the MAX messaging app.
Several industrial facilities also caught fire, he said.
Reuters could not independently verify the account.
In a separate statement on Telegram, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had struck a power station in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, as well as a warehouse in the surrounding region and another power station in the Khmelnitskiy region.
The ministry also reported attacks on port infrastructure in Chornomorsk and a cargo vessel travelling towards Odesa that it said was being used for military purposes.
The United States has urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, arguing that the strikes have contributed to rising energy prices. The issue has become particularly sensitive for the Trump administration as it wages war on Iran and faces midterm elections next month.
Volodymyr Zelensky said the US should allow the use of Starshield over Russia
In an interview broadcast yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would stop striking Russian targets only if Moscow ended its attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure.
He also said the United States could help by authorizing the use of Starshield over Russia to identify missile launch sites or by supplying Ukraine with Patriot missile systems.
Four people were injured overnight in a Russian attack on Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s emergency service reported that two more people were hurt in Russian strikes on the Chernihiv region.
Russia has stepped up drone and missile attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting energy facilities near major cities. Kyiv says the campaign is intended to leave the country without heat and electricity during the winter.
Attacks last year cut power and heating to millions of people as temperatures fell as low as -20C.
The two sides are due to meet next month with US envoys for talks on ending Europe’s most serious conflict since World War II.
Several earlier rounds of negotiations have failed to bring the parties closer to an agreement.
Russia is seeking additional territory in eastern Ukraine, along with sweeping military and political limits on Kyiv.
Ukraine and its allies argue that those demands amount to capitulation and would leave the country vulnerable to another Russian assault.
