War in Ukraine: two dead in Russian strikes, Volodymyr Zelensky expected in the United Kingdom for a meeting in the presence of Emmanuel Macron

Russian attacks in south-east and central Ukraine left four dead and hit a nuclear waste storage site, emergency services and authorities announced on Sunday June 7, the day of a planned meeting between the Ukrainian, French, German and British leaders.

Russian strikes on a village in the Zaporizhia region left two dead and three injured on Sunday, regional governor Ivan Fedorov reported. A 56-year-old bus driver had already been killed in his vehicle while stopped at a terminus, in the town of Zaporizhia, according to Ukrainian emergency services. A 59-year-old man was also killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to the local military administration.

A Russian drone strike also “partially destroyed” a container reception building at the centralized storage site for spent nuclear fuel in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Ukrainian public nuclear operator Energoatom warned on Telegram. He said the building was empty at the time of the strike and that radiation levels remained normal.

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.

Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Keir Starmer will first meet all three before receiving Volodymyr Zelensky, for a meeting aimed in particular at “take stock of the work undertaken in favor of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”according to the Elysee.

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.