OMM Newsroom
Russia and Ukraine traded accusations over overnight strikes on Thursday as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow, where they were expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Anadolu Agency reported.
Rivne regional governor Oleksandr Koval said on Telegram that the region had come under overnight airstrikes targeting energy infrastructure and residential areas.
“There are power outages in settlements across the Rivne and Sarny districts,” Koval said. He added that the town of Kostopil had no electricity and that critical infrastructure facilities were switching to generator power.
Koval said preliminary reports indicated there were no casualties. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said its personnel had completed work at the site in cooperation with other services.
The Kyiv City Military Administration announced air raid alerts throughout the evening and urged residents to go to the nearest shelter. Officials in the capital reported no casualties or damage.
Ukraine’s Air Force said its air defences shot down 94 of the 123 drones launched by Russia overnight. It also said Russia had launched an unspecified number of ballistic and anti-ship missiles but provided no information about their fate.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had carried out “massive” strikes on facilities in Ukraine’s military-industrial and energy sectors, as well as an ammunition depot in Kyiv and the surrounding Kyiv region.
The ministry also said Russian air defences had downed 71 Ukrainian drones over seven regions and Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
In Russia, Rostov region governor Yury Slyusar said an attack had been repelled over the Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and Chertkovsky districts.
“No information has been received regarding casualties or damage on the ground. Details are being verified,” Slyusar said. Omsk region governor Vitaliy Khotsenko said one person had been injured in overnight strikes.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said five drones had been intercepted as they headed towards the Russian capital.
Ukraine had not commented on the strikes in Russia. Independent verification of claims by either Moscow or Kyiv is difficult amid the ongoing war.
The strikes followed the conclusion of two days of US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The talks resulted in a new prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv, details of which had not been confirmed.
After the negotiations, Kushner told reporters that he and Witkoff would travel to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Putin. He said they would “finalize the numbers” for the prisoner swap and discuss the possible inclusion of Europe in the talks, which Moscow has opposed so far.
Kushner said the envoys would then travel to Ireland to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy arrived in Dublin on Wednesday ahead of two meetings involving European leaders scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
The two US envoys arrived in Moscow on Thursday morning and were greeted by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
