LONDON — At least four people were killed and 17 were injured in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv in what the local mayor called a “massive” Russian drone attack on Sunday night.
“Every night and every day bring new challenges for our city, new destructions and new work,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a post to Telegram.
Kharkiv was among the targets of Russia’s latest overnight attack, which Ukraine’s air force said saw 162 drones launched into the country. Air defenses shot down or suppressed 125 drones, the air force said, with 37 craft impacting across 15 locations.
“The most damage was suffered by civilian infrastructure and private households in the Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions,” the air force said in a post to Telegram. “Unfortunately, there are civilian casualties.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down at least 103 Ukrainian drones overnight and into Monday afternoon. Four drones were shot down over the Moscow region, of which two were heading toward the capital, the ministry said.
The latest exchange of strikes came as U.S., European and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the contentious 28-point American peace plan proposal put to Kyiv last week, with terms critics say would constitute a Ukrainian capitulation.
On Monday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at headway being made. “Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine???” he wrote on social media.
“Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” Trump added.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the talks were “probably the most productive and meaningful meeting we’ve had so far in this entire process since we became involved.”
Rubio told reporters that the presidents of both countries would have to approve any framework, but said he was “comfortable” they would.
“We’re making some changes and adjustments in hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to an outcome that both Ukraine and the United States can be comfortable with,” Rubio said.
Rubio later Sunday said that all parties had made “great strides” on a potential peace settlement with Russia. He also said that the deadline for the parties to reach an agreement is “as soon as possible” and that the process could extend past a Thanksgiving deadline set by Trump.
“It evolved. This is a work — this is a living, breathing document every day with input, it changes,” he said of the proposal.
Trump told reporters on Saturday that there is room for further negotiation. Asked by reporters whether the 28-point plan was his last offer, Trump replied, “No.” He added, “One way or another we’ll get it ended.”
But on Sunday, the president criticized Ukraine and its European backers, saying Ukrainian “‘leadership’ has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts” and noting that “Europe continues to buy oil from Russia.”
Asked later on Sunday whether the president still considered the Ukrainians “ungrateful,” Rubio said he believed Trump was now “quite pleased” with progress at the negotiating table.
