Ukrainian civilians faced another wave of lethal attacks over the weekend as Russian forces launched coordinated missile, drone, and artillery strikes across multiple regions. The assaults resulted in at least three fatalities and significant damage to critical infrastructure, occurring simultaneously with high-level diplomatic discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
In the northern Chernihiv region, local authorities confirmed one civilian death from a drone attack Saturday night. Meanwhile, the central industrial city of Kremenchuk suffered combined missile and drone strikes targeting energy facilities, causing widespread power and water disruptions. Kremenchuk represents a strategic industrial center housing one of Ukraine’s largest oil refineries.
Eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region witnessed particularly intense shelling on Sunday, with regional police reporting two additional deaths and seven injuries from Russian artillery fire.
Western intelligence assessments indicate Russia continues its systematic campaign to degrade Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, marking the fourth consecutive winter where civilian access to heating, electricity, and running water has been weaponized as part of Moscow’s military strategy.
The violence unfolded alongside continued diplomatic efforts, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirming a ‘substantive phone call’ with American officials engaged in talks with Ukrainian delegates in Florida. Zelenskyy emphasized Ukraine’s commitment to ‘working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace’ in a social media statement.
Outgoing U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg, speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum, characterized peace negotiations as being in ‘the last 10 meters,’ citing territorial disputes in the Donbas region and control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as remaining obstacles. The facility, under Russian occupation since early in the invasion, requires constant power to maintain safety systems for its six shutdown reactors.
In a separate development, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed approval of the Trump administration’s newly released national security strategy, describing its statements against confrontation and in favor of dialogue as ‘encouraging.’ The document signals Washington’s intention to rebuild strategic stability with Moscow and end the Ukraine conflict as a core U.S. interest.