Kiev, Ukraine (AP) – Russia launched a drone attack on Ukraine's Zapolijazia urban city, killing three people and injuring 12 people, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday despite agreeing to a limited suspension.
Zaporizhzhia was hit by 12 drones, police said. Regional Ivan Fedorov said the attack on Friday night brought home buildings, cars and communal buildings to fire. Photo showing emergency services scrutinizing tile rubs for survivors.
Ukraine and Russia in principle agreed to a limited ceasefire on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump spoke with country leaders, but it is still unclear what targets could be attacked.
The three aspects seemed to hold a completely different view of what the deal covered. The White House said “energy and infrastructure” would become part of the contract, but the Kremlin declared the agreement narrower and refers to “energy infrastructure.” Ukrainian President Voldimir Zelensky said he wanted to protect the railways and ports.
Zaporizhzhia's deaths included three members of one family. The bodies of the daughter and father were pulled from under the tile rub, but the doctor fought for the mother's life for over 10 hours, Fedorov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia had fired a total of 179 drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks up to Saturday. It said 100 had been intercepted, and another 63 had been lost, possibly clogged electronically.
Local officials in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk reported that the fire had been caused due to the fall of debris from the intercepted drone.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said the air defense system had fired down 47 Ukrainian drones.
Zelenskyy told reporters after Wednesday's call with Trump, Ukraine and US negotiators will discuss technical details related to the partial ceasefire during a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Monday. Russian negotiators will also hold separate meetings with US officials there.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was open to the 30-day ceasefire proposed by Trump, and “we are not opposed to steps towards an unconditional ceasefire in any form.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a complete ceasefire, conditional on the halt of arms supplies to Kiev and the halt of Ukraine's military mobilization.
