War in Ukraine: two dead after new Russian strikes, Volodymyr Zelensky in London this Sunday

Russian attacks in the south-east and center of Ukraine left five people dead, emergency services and authorities announced on Sunday, the day of a planned meeting between the Ukrainian, French, German and British leaders.

In Zaporizhia (southeast), Russia “hit the suburbs of the regional capital (of the same name) with a drone (…) a 56-year-old man – a minibus driver who was stopped at a terminus – was killed”wrote Ukrainian emergency services on Telegram, attaching a photo of the heavily damaged vehicle. Three other deaths and three injured increased the toll during the day.

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A 59-year-old man was also killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region (center), targeted by drone attacks and aerial bombardments, according to the local military administration, which reported one injured. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia targeted the country with 236 drones overnight from Saturday to Sunday, of which 215 were intercepted.

Ukraine has recently intensified its drone strikes on the occupied territories

These new attacks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday in London. MM. Macron, Merz and Starmer will first meet all three before receiving Mr. Zelensky, for a meeting aimed in particular at “take stock of the work undertaken in favor of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”a précisé la présidence française.

Volodymyr Zelensky this week proposed a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who rejects the idea until a final agreement to end the war has been negotiated beforehand.

Ukraine has recently intensified its drone strikes on occupied territories and Russia in retaliation for daily Russian bombings against its territory. The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sunday morning that it had intercepted 95 Ukrainian drones since the previous evening.