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Russia has intensified its air attacks against Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure and bridges around Kyiv with missiles and drones more than four and a half years after launching its full-scale invasion. The renewed bombardment comes as the Russian ground offensive remains largely stalled, with Moscow expanding its campaign to disrupt transport routes in the capital city of over three million residents.
Residents Clear Debris Following Blast
In a Kyiv neighborhood on Saturday, local residents cleared away debris and excavated a car buried beneath dirt from a recent missile explosion. Anna Raduka, a 33-year-old resident standing near a large crater opposite her apartment building, remarked on surviving the strike. “It’s good that we’re left alive,” she said, adding that “Everything else we’ll get later. Property isn’t what matters — it’s life that does.”
Upcoming Trilateral Talks in Abu Dhabi
Ukrainian and Russian officials are scheduled to participate in three-way negotiations in Abu Dhabi from Tuesday to Wednesday, forming part of a U.S.-backed peace initiative that has produced minimal progress to date. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Interfax news agency that Moscow’s delegation for these first trilateral talks since February will feature senior diplomats and military officials, such as Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
The Russian team will be led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky and includes Yuri Zhigarlovsky, a senior General Staff officer; Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin; and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.
Impact of U.S. Midterm Elections
The military strikes follow the United States midterm elections, an event that has generated optimism within Ukraine for enhanced backing against the Russian offensive from a Democratic-controlled Congress. “We are counting on the U.S. Congress to give more attention to Ukraine, because Russia keeps increasing the number of its attacks,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated.
