KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian barrage of missiles and drones targeting Ukraine’s capital and the surrounding region injured at least 19 people overnight and into Thursday morning, authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces carried out overnight strikes against targets in Russia, including an oil refinery in Yaroslavl and a military airfield in the Rostov region.
Peace efforts to end Russia’s 4 1/2-year full-scale invasion have stalled, with the issue of territorial concessions in eastern Ukraine among the central sticking points. Successive rounds of U.S.-brokered talks have failed to produce a breakthrough. Ukraine is also seeking security guarantees from partners for a deal.
President Trump claimed in a social media post Monday that Russia and Ukraine had mutually agreed to cease attacking each other’s energy facilities. Such strikes have led to significant supply issues in both countries.
In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Zelensky pushed back on Trump’s claim, saying that while an energy truce was discussed during a recent meeting in Kyiv with Trump’s representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, he would agree only if Russia ceases its attacks on Ukrainian energy sites.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine is ready to agree to a truce covering attacks on energy infrastructure and the Black Sea. But speaking at a joint press briefing with his Slovenian counterpart, Tone Kajzer, Sybiha said he has yet to see any indication that Russia is prepared to do the same.
He welcomed U.S. efforts to broker such an agreement and said active U.S. involvement could make a truce possible. Sybiha also said Ukraine was preparing for a meeting between Zelensky and Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this month.
“I believe that achieving a truce could be one of the key outcomes of this meeting. It could be a truce covering both the energy sector and the Black Sea — specifically in that combination,” he said.
Russian drone kills captain of civilian vessel in Black Sea
The Kyiv City Military Administration said the overnight attacks struck more than 10 locations in the city, while 33 sites were damaged in the wider region. A 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy were among the injured, the administration said in a statement on Telegram.
A Russian drone struck a civilian vessel flying the flag of Tanzania in the Black Sea on Thursday, killing the ship’s captain and injuring three crew members, according to Oleh Kiper, the regional head in Odesa.
The vessel’s superstructure and deck were damaged in the morning attack, Kiper said on Telegram. He accused Russia of deliberately targeting Ukrainian ports and civilian merchant vessels.
Ukraine’s air force said it destroyed or suppressed 131 Russian aerial targets during the overnight attack in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa regions. The attack involved ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones and decoys.
In Odesa, seven people were injured, including two children, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Apartments on the 14th through 16th floors of a residential building were damaged. A private residential building in Odesa was also destroyed and others damaged.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s operation against the Yaroslavl Oil Refinery was conducted jointly by the country’s Security Service, special operations forces, military intelligence and the Foreign Intelligence Service.
He wrote on Telegram that the security service had also struck a military airfield in Rostov, damaging an An-12 aircraft, two An-26s and three helicopters.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the military hit metallurgical and electronics plants, factories of the military-industrial complex and energy and transport facilities. It said that three bulk carriers and a ferry carrying supplies for the Ukrainian military were hit in the port of Chornomorsk.
The two sides exchange remains
On Thursday, Ukraine received the bodies of 252 soldiers as part of ongoing exchanges with Russia, the government agency handling prisoners of war said on Telegram.
Russia said the remains belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel, the agency said, adding that they will be identified.
Ukrainian officials welcome sanctions vote
Ukrainian officials welcomed the vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a package of sanctions targeting Russian officials and key sectors of the economy, saying the measures could increase pressure on Moscow and limit the resources available to finance its war effort.
The legislation was one of the last major initiatives championed by the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
“It is precisely Sen. Graham’s bill, along with other strong sanctions measures taken by our partners against the source of this war, Russia, that represent an extremely powerful tool that can stop this terrorist war and force Russia to seek peace,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Kullab writes for the Associated Press.