Ukraine, Russia trade fire as Zelenskyy allies back call for direct talks

Russia and Ukraine have traded deadly air attacks, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met European leaders in London.

Early on Monday, ⁠a ⁠Russian attack killed five ⁠and injured 14 people in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhia region, the regional ‌governor said on Telegram. Ivan Fedorov said ⁠Russia attacked ⁠the region with ⁠drones and ⁠shelling, ⁠damaging infrastructure, residential buildings and cars.

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Elsewhere in Ukraine, ⁠Russian ⁠attacks on energy ⁠infrastructure in the ⁠Odesa region caused ‌power outages for more than 1,000 customers, regional Governor Oleh Kiper ⁠said on Telegram. This comes a day after Russian forces targeted a nuclear fuel storage facility near the defunct Chornobyl power plant.

Ukraine carried out several strikes on Russian targets. A ⁠drone struck ⁠a train in Russia-annexed Crimea, killing its assistant driver and injuring the driver, the peninsula’s Russian-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, said on Telegram.

⁠Russian ⁠air defence units also repelled an ⁠overnight drone attack ⁠on energy infrastructure in the Volgograd region, with ‌falling debris sparking a fire at a pumping station in ⁠the Zhirnovsky district, ⁠according to Governor Andrei Bocharov, though no casualties were reported.

At Russia’s Black Sea port ‌of Novorossiysk, a loading complex caught ⁠fire after a drone attack. Local authorities said no one ⁠was injured, ⁠while ⁠130 firefighters were battling ‌the blaze.

The attacks come after Zelenskyy received the backing of the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany in calling for direct ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia, following a meeting in London on Sunday. The so-called E3 group of European nations has been a prominent backer of Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing war.

Zelenskyy proposed a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in an open letter to the Russian president on Thursday, saying he was also ready for a “full ceasefire”. However, Putin turned down the offer, saying he saw no point in such a meeting for now.

In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor ⁠Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron “commended” Zelenskyy’s call for an end to the war and the proposal for direct dialogue with Putin, with active US and European participation.

“For Ukraine, it has always been a priority that Europe’s position and voice in the negotiations be strong,” Zelenskyy said on X.