Three killed in Russian attacks on Kyiv before peace talks in Saudi Arabia

As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his Western allies to press Moscow to stop its attacks on the nation in advance of Saudi Arabia’s peace talks, at least three people have died in overnight Russian drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital.

A 5-year-old child was one of the three killed, according to the Kyiv city military administration’s announcement on the Telegram messaging app. According to the report from Sunday, ten others were hurt.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, also shared a statement on Telegram that, in response to fires and damage, emergency services were dispatched to several city areas.

Russia’s air force reported earlier that it had launched 147 drones over the course of an overnight mission to several Ukrainian regions. According to the air force, 25 of the drones failed to land on their intended targets and 97 were shot down.

On X, Zelenskyy wrote, “New decisions and new pressure on Moscow are needed to put an end to these strikes and this war.”

“We need more air defense systems and real support to strengthen Ukraine and our army.” He continued to support Ukraine and thanked all partners who understood this.

Meanwhile, Rostov and Astrakhan regions, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, “destroyed and intercepted” 59 Ukrainian drones overnight.

talks on a ceasefire

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, stated on Saturday night that efforts to stop further escalation in the conflict were “somewhat under control.”

In an interview with Trump on Air Force One, the president stated that “rational discussions” and having good relationships with Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin were essential to negotiating the end of the war.

Trump and Zelenskyy held separate discussions last week to end the 2022-opened war. Following Trump’s and Vice President JD Vance’s belittling of Zelenskyy at the White House, they came weeks later.

However, Putin did agree to stop Russian attacks on energy infrastructure for the time being, which Zelenskyy accepted despite not meeting Trump’s 30-day ceasefire goal. Both sides have since claimed to have been energy sites targets after agreeing to this.

As part of the Trump administration’s push for peace, delegations from Russia and Ukraine are scheduled to meet separately in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

The Russian delegation’s leader, Senator Grigory Karasin, stated on the Zvezda TV channel, which is owned by the Defense Ministry, that they “hope to at least make some progress” during the meeting.

Sergey Beseda, a co-negotiator from the FSB intelligence agency, and Karasin said they would approach the discussions “combative and constructive.”

According to Karasin, “we are going with the mood to fight for the solution to at least one problem.”

A senior Ukrainian official told the AFP news agency on Saturday that Kyiv hopes to reach an “at least” partial ceasefire covering attacks on energy, infrastructure, and the sea.