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Russia and Ukraine traded accusations on Monday over overnight airstrikes that injured seven people, a day before Russian, Ukrainian and US representatives were scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi for another round of US-mediated peace talks, Anadolu Agency reported.
Poltava Governor Vitaliy Dyakivnych said late Sunday that Russian drones struck a 16-storey residential building and a hotel in the city of Kremenchuk, injuring seven people.
Dyakivnych later said a Russian drone hit private property in the Hlobyne urban area of Kremenchuk district. No one was injured, but an outbuilding caught fire.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said rescuers saved 15 residents after the strikes in Kremenchuk and extinguished the fires.
Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said critical infrastructure in the regional capital was damaged. He said there had been no casualties from Russian attacks since Sunday evening.
Dnipropetrovsk Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said air defences in his region shot down 23 Russian drones and that five districts had been targeted. The strikes damaged an enterprise in the regional capital, Dnipro, and infrastructure in Kamianske, he added.
Ukraine’s Air Force said its air defences shot down 271 of the 317 drones Russia launched overnight.
Russia reports drone interceptions and damage
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its overnight strikes targeted facilities supporting the operations of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and armed forces. It said a plant in Hlobyne, in the central Poltava region, was among the locations hit.
The ministry also said electrical substations were damaged in Ukraine’s Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions.
The ministry claimed Russian air defences shot down 430 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions and Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
In the northwestern Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on the Russian social media platform “Max” that 113 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted. He said there were reports of drones striking an industrial zone in the city of Kirishi.
Drozdenko said debris from downed drones also hit an apartment in Kirishi and the roof of an apartment building in Vsevolozhsk. No one was injured.
Rostov Governor Yury Slyusar said several Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight in the southern region’s Millerovsky, Tarasovsky and Neklinovsky districts.
Alexander Gusev, governor of the Russian border region of Voronezh, said six drones were detected and destroyed over Voronezh and three districts in the region. Preliminary information indicated no casualties or damage, he added.
Independent verification of claims by Moscow and Kyiv is difficult because of the ongoing war. Both countries deny deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and say their strikes are directed only at military targets or facilities linked to military activities.
New round of talks scheduled in Abu Dhabi
The strikes came a day before Russian, Ukrainian and US representatives were scheduled to begin a renewed round of trilateral peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Russia and Ukraine last held US-mediated peace talks earlier this year. Three rounds took place on Jan. 23-24, Feb. 4-5 and Feb. 17-18. The first two were held in Abu Dhabi, while the third took place in Geneva.
