Russia has fired 574 drones and 40 missiles on Ukraine in one of the heaviest bombardments in weeks, Ukrainian officials say.
One person was killed in a drone and missile strike on the western city of Lviv, and 15 people were reported wounded in an attack in the western Zakarpattia region.
The attacks came as US President Donald Trump spearheads diplomatic moves to halt the war, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the strikes highlighted why efforts to bring it to an end were “so critical.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is ready to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin “in neutral Europe” – in Switzerland or Austria – and he is not against Istanbul either.
Ukraine’s air force counted 614 drones and other missiles fired by Russia overnight into Thursday and said it had stopped 577 of them. It is the biggest air attack since July.
The Ukrainian air force said many of the attacks came from western Russia, as well as from the Black Sea and one missile from Russian-occupied Crimea.
Talking to reporters on Thursday, Zelensky said there was still no signal from Moscow that they “truly intend to engage in substantive negotiations” to end the war.
Source:BBC/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma