RUSSIA AND UKRAINE REPORT DEADLY ATTACKS AS PEACE EFFORTS CONTINUE

Russia and Ukraine reported fresh overnight attacks on Friday as US-led efforts to negotiate an end to the war continued without a breakthrough.

Russian authorities said Ukrainian drone attacks killed four people and injured two in an industrial area of Volgograd.

Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed it intercepted 1,198 Ukrainian drones across more than 15 regions. Video circulating online appeared to show a fire at a Volgograd oil refinery, but a strike on the facility had not been officially confirmed.

In Ukraine, officials said Russian attacks on the southern port city of Odesa killed at least two people.

Six others were reported injured in the Zaporizhzhia district, while a drone strike on a Kyiv hospital caused a fire and injured one person.

Russia separately claimed it had targeted a cargo ship carrying weapons and military equipment in the Black Sea.

Talks Produce Prisoner Deal but No Peace Breakthrough

The attacks followed negotiations in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday, where Russian and Ukrainian representatives reported agreement on a major prisoner exchange.

However, territorial disputes and security guarantees remained unresolved.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday before briefing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin.

European leaders were gathering in the Irish capital on Friday to discuss their role in the negotiations.

Kushner said Putin had agreed to European participation, but the Kremlin later disputed that account.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had not yet accepted European mediators and would assess their intentions before deciding whether to expand the talks.

The disagreement leaves Europe’s role uncertain ahead of an expected return to negotiations next week.