KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Overnight, Russia and Ukraine exchanged intense airstrikes, each country claiming on Saturday to have seen over 100 enemy drones flying above their lands.
The assaults occurred fewer than 24 hours following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to talk about the specifics of the U.S. suggestion a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine .
On Thursday, Putin stated at a press conference that He backed a ceasefire in theory. However, it lays out numerous specifics that require clarification prior to agreement. Kyiv has already approved the ceasefire proposal; nonetheless, Ukrainian officials have expressed public concerns about whether Moscow would genuinely commit to such an accord.
Addressing reporters inKyiv on Saturday, following virtual talks During a gathering of Western allies hosted by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy expressed Ukraine’s backing for the proposed 30-day comprehensive ceasefire as a basis for negotiating a more lasting peace agreement. However, he also noted that Russia might try to disrupt these discussions with various preconditions and caveats.
Starmer has instructed his supporters to "maintain the pressure" on Putin to support a ceasefire in Ukraine, praising Ukraine as the "champion of peace." He stated that Putin will inevitably "have to sit down at the negotiating table" sooner or later.
Earlier on Saturday, Zelenskyy claimed that Moscow was amassing troops at the frontier.
"The accumulation of Russian troops suggests that Moscow plans to continue disregarding diplomatic efforts. It’s evident that Russia is extending the conflict," he stated.
Nonetheless, Zelenskyy emphasized that if Russia declined the U.S. proposal, there would be "concrete, severe, and direct" action taken by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
He additionally mentioned that Kyiv’s forces were sustaining their positions their existence in Russia’s Kursk area following Trump’s statement on Friday that "tens of thousands" of Ukrainian soldiers were encircled by the Russian forces.
The operations of our forces within the specified zones in the Kursk area persist," stated Zelenskyy. "Our soldiers keep resisting Russian and North Korean units in the Kursk region. Our troops have not been surrounded.
On Saturday, Ukraine's air force reported that Russia had initiated an assault during the night involving 178 unmanned aerial vehicles and two ballistic missiles. This onslaught included both genuine Shahed-class drones and imitative models meant to overwhelm air defense systems. Out of these, approximately 130 drones were intercepted, with another 38 failing to hit their intended destinations.
Russia targeted energy installations, resulting in considerable destruction, hitting power infrastructures in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, according to an announcement made by Ukraine’s private energy firm DTEK on Saturday. This led to some locals being left without electrical supply.
"The extent of the damage is considerable. Personnel from the energy company are already on site. We are taking all necessary measures to reinstate electricity to residences at the earliest," the energy firm stated.
A falling drone caused debris to ignite near an oil refinery operated by Lukoil in the Krasnoarmeysky district of Volgograd, Governor Andrei Bocharov stated, though he did not provide additional specifics. Local reports indicated that nearby airports briefly suspended operations as a result. Fortunately, no injuries have been recorded.
The Volgograd refinery has faced attacks from Kyiv’s forces multiple times since Moscow initiated its comprehensive assault on Ukraine over three years ago, with the latest incident being a drone strike on February 15th.
___ Katie Marie Davies from Manchester, England, provided contributions for this report. ___
Check out AP's reporting on the conflict in Ukraine here: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
