Ahead of planned talks with the United States next week, Ukraine reported Friday that Russia struck its energy infrastructure across a broad swath of the nation, hitting targets in five regions, damaging residential buildings and injuring residents.
This latest barrage came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to travel to Saudi Arabia Monday for meetings with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss a possible ceasefire with Russia.
“The first steps to establishing real peace should be to force the sole source of this war, that is, Russia, to stop precisely such attacks against life,” Zelenskyy said in his Friday post, referencing the overnight assault.
In posts on his social media accounts, Zelenskyy said the Russian attack included almost 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and nearly 200 attack drones. He said they struck targets in Odesa, Poltava, Chernihiv, Ternopil and Kharkiv regions.
Zelenskyy said that many of the drones were taken out by antiaircraft troops and that, for the first time, French-made Mirage fighter jets were deployed in air defense, which he said were particularly successful against cruise missiles. He said U.S-made F-16s were also deployed to thwart the attack.
Monday’s meeting between Zelenskyy and U.S. officials would be the first since last week’s contentious White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance as reporters looked on.
Earlier this week in a letter sent to Trump, Zelenskyy said the way the meeting went was “regrettable” and Ukraine was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”
Witkoff told reporters Thursday the president felt the Ukrainian president had made amends with the statement. He also confirmed he would meet with Zelenskyy in Saudi Arabia with the goal of establishing “a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well.”
Zelenskyy was in Brussels Thursday, where he met with European Union leaders and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Zelenskyy said that at both meetings, they discussed the next steps needed toward establishing lasting peace.
Zelensky also announced that he is scheduled to meet in Paris on Tuesday with military chiefs of countries willing to send troops to Ukraine to ensure peace. Commenting on the meeting, Zelenskyy said, “The leaders share a clear vision that real and lasting peace is possible through the cooperation of Ukraine, all of Europe and the United States.”
Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press and Reuters.
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