Russia launched 179 drone strikes Saturday in Ukraine, killing at least three people, despite a partial ceasefire hammered out days before.
A 17-year-old girl and her parents were killed in the overnight attacks in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The girl and her father were pulled from under rubble while doctors tried to save the mother’s life for more than 10 hours, Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said in a statement.
Fourteen others were wounded as homes, buildings and cars were set ablaze by falling debris from intercepted drones, officials said. Photos showed emergency services scouring the rubble for survivors.
Russian forces shelled at least 22 different neighborhoods since Friday, killing three others in and injuring at least 36, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Ukraine intercepted 100 of the drones while 63 others were lost, likely electronically jammed. Russia, meanwhile, said it shot down 47 Ukrainian drones, according to its defense ministry.
Delegations from the two nations are set to hold separate meetings with US officials Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a bid to halt the three-year war.
“There will be a meeting of Ukraine and America and then some shuttle diplomacy, as our American colleagues said, America with Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters this week after a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
The two sides agreed in principle on Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after President Trump held separate calls on consecutive days with the countries’ leaders. Which targets are off limits to attack remains contentious.
Trump said Friday a full ceasefire could come “soon” with contracts being negotiated to divide up land and assets as part of a final deal to end the war, according to reports.
Ukraine currently controls a portion of the Russian region of Kursk, while Russia has taken over several regions of Ukraine since its brutal invasion three years ago.
“I believe we’re going to pretty soon have a full cease-fire, and then we’re going to have a contract, and the contract’s being negotiated,” Trump told reporters. “It’s being negotiated as we speak.”
Russia has lost 902,010 troops in Ukraine since the start of the war, according to a recent report from the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Zelensky said in December that about 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed.
With Post wires
