Russia launched new strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure hours before the start of trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi. The overnight attacks affected 10 Ukrainian regions and five major substations that transmit electricity between regions, Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said. The substations are located in Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia and Kirovohrad regions.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched 162 drones of various types and one ballistic missile. Citing data reported by The Guardian, the attacks carried out by Russia over the past 24 hours killed at least nine people and wounded 39. The casualty figures were attributed to Ukrainian media and were not presented as a final tally.
The strikes came as Washington is seeking to launch a new diplomatic process to end the war. President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of increasing pressure on Ukraine ahead of the talks, including through attacks on the power grid. Earlier, he said Russia was seeking to leave the country without electricity by striking substations connecting nuclear power plants to the national grid.
Talks began amid new strikes
The talks in the capital of the United Arab Emirates began on Tuesday and are the first trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the United States since February. The format is scheduled to last two days, with future security guarantees as the main topic. For Ukraine, the issue is linked to preventing a new Russian attack, while Moscow views NATO as a threat.
The first day lasted nearly four hours, the Associated Press reported, with talks expected to continue on Wednesday. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are taking part in the mediation efforts. Kushner said that “some good ideas had emerged on how to overcome” the differences between the countries.
European countries are not part of the main format, a situation Germany is insisting must be changed. Representatives of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, NATO and the European Union are holding separate discussions on possible security guarantees and the future security architecture in Europe. At the same time, the strikes on Ukraine’s power grid are testing the country’s ability to maintain electricity and heating supplies as winter approaches.
Sources: apnews.com, theguardian.com, rferl.org