Arabic version: روسيا وأوكرانيا تتبادلان الضربات بعد محادثات السلام

According to Cnbc, Russia and Ukraine continued trading intense strikes on civilian and energy infrastructure overnight after U.S.-brokered talks signalled movement toward further peace negotiations. Russia launched a major attack on Ukrainian energy facilities, while Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 443 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Russian strikes on energy facilities in the Zhytomyr, Volyn, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne regions knocked out electricity for more than 500,000 people. Emergency restoration work has begun where the security situation permits, the ministry said.

DTEK, one of Ukraine’s largest private energy companies, said an unspecified thermal power plant stopped generating electricity after Russian shelling. The company said its thermal power plants have been attacked more than 230 times since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

The attacks followed a Wednesday meeting in St. Petersburg between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the conflict. Putin later said Moscow was ready to resume U.S.-mediated talks with Kyiv in November. A so-called energy ceasefire announced by President Donald Trump on Oct. 11 has not produced a meaningful outcome. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had paused attacks on Russian energy targets for three days before resuming them because Russia continued attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Zelenskyy also said Ukraine was ready for a ceasefire but needed strong security guarantees.