Five people were killed in Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine's Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, with at least 22 others injured, Ukrainian officials reported on Tuesday. Among the dead was a pregnant woman in the Kharkiv region, where overnight strikes hit the town of Chuhuiv, damaging residential buildings and shops, according to the regional prosecutor's office. In Kharkiv city, 16 people were wounded in a separate drone attack, some of them children. In Donetsk, two people were killed in the towns of Bilozerske and Druzhkivka on Monday, while 11 others were injured in Sloviansk and Shabelkivka, Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk state administration, said on Facebook. Photos shared online by officials showed a burning building and burnt-out vehicles in Chuhuiv. The attacks followed a surge in Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, which have triggered fuel shortages in parts of Russia, and coincided with intensified Russian aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had held a "very positive" phone conversation with US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, expressing hope for renewed diplomatic efforts. He thanked them for their willingness to work "as actively as possible in the coming weeks to reinvigorate diplomacy aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine." Zelenskyy made the comments while returning from London, where he met with British, French and German leaders to discuss ways to end the war. He also had a "substantive" discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron and said he was preparing for the upcoming G7 summit in France. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Macron issued a joint statement reaffirming their "unwavering support" for Ukraine, pledging to use the G7, NATO and Coalition of the Willing summits to increase military aid and pressure on Russia's war economy. Zelenskyy also referenced an interview with The Guardian in which he suggested divisions within Russian leadership, stating, "I think there are different people around Putin. Half of them want to continue this war. Half want to stop." Last week, he sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing a face-to-face meeting. At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin dismissed the idea, saying there was "no point" without prior expert-level groundwork, though he left open the possibility of meeting later to sign any resulting agreement.
Zelenskyy's outreach to Putin comes weeks after Kyiv escalated drone attacks on Russian oil facilities, undermining his own diplomatic overture with acts of economic warfare. While he claims half of Putin's inner circle wants to end the war, Putin himself has rejected direct talks without prior negotiations by experts. The US envoys' involvement offers no guarantee of progress, especially as Russia continues lethal strikes on Ukrainian civilians. Any peace effort appears stalled between symbolic gestures and ongoing violence.
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