标签： Europe

KYIV, Ukraine — As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year of brutal conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced a unprecedented reciprocal proposal: a temporary halt to cross-border attacks on energy facilities from both sides, timed to coincide with the upcoming Orthodox Easter holiday this weekend. In a public address delivered late Monday, Zelenskyy confirmed the offer was formally transmitted to Russian authorities through Washington, which has served as a mediator for indirect talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

“If Russia agrees to end its strikes against our energy infrastructure, Ukraine will stand by the same commitment,” Zelenskyy stated. To date, the Kremlin has not issued any public response to the proposal. This call for a limited holiday truce comes amid a long track record of failed ceasefire attempts between the two warring nations. Last Orthodox Easter, Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally announced a 30-hour ceasefire, but the agreement collapsed within hours as both sides traded accusations of immediate violations. A year ago, Moscow also rejected a 30-day unconditional truce put forward by the U.S. and Ukraine, framing the offer as unconstructive and continuing to push for a sweeping negotiated settlement that meets its core demands. Even so, Russia has unilaterally declared multiple short-term ceasefires over the past years of conflict.

Despite extending the offer, Zelenskyy made clear he holds little optimism that the Kremlin will accept the proposal. He pointed to current global energy market conditions, noting that Russia is reaping greater financial benefits from elevated international oil prices driven by ongoing conflict in Iran, giving it little incentive to pause strikes that undermine Ukraine’s energy stability. Beyond the truce proposal, Zelenskyy also reiterated growing concerns that a prolonged U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Iran will divert international attention and erode critical American support for Ukraine’s war effort. So far, U.S.-mediated indirect talks between the two nations have stalled on all core sticking points, with Washington’s policy bandwidth largely absorbed by the escalating Middle East crisis. Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian forces remain entrenched in brutal, ongoing clashes along a roughly 1,000-mile front line stretching across eastern and southern Ukraine.

For months, both sides have targeted each other’s critical energy infrastructure as a core military strategy. Russia has launched sustained, large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in a deliberate campaign to break civilian morale ahead of the cold winter and spring months. In response, Ukraine has ramped up its own long-range drone strikes against Russian oil facilities, aiming to cut into the export revenue that funds Moscow’s war machine. A new assessment published late Monday by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank specializing in conflict analysis, confirms Ukraine’s expanding drone campaign is yielding tangible results. The report notes that Ukraine is successfully exploiting gaps in Russia’s overstretched air defense network, causing significant damage to Russia’s oil export capacity. “Russia’s vast geographic territory creates enormous defensive challenges, particularly when the country still relies heavily on legacy air defense systems to intercept Ukrainian drone salvos,” the ISW assessment added.

Alongside attacks on energy infrastructure, Russian forces have continued to target civilian and public transportation networks across Ukraine, including the country’s critical rail links that serve both civilian and military supply purposes. On Tuesday morning, a Russian drone struck a civilian bus as it pulled into a stop in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Nikopol during morning rush hour, killing four civilians and wounding 15 more. Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko confirmed the attack in an online post, emphasizing that the strike was a deliberate tactic targeting ordinary civilians. “This brutal attack on regular civilian transportation happened during rush hour, when people were simply heading to their jobs,” Klymenko wrote. “This is no accident — this is Russia’s deliberate strategy: targeted strikes on innocent civilians.”

Additional Russian attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine pushed Tuesday’s civilian death toll even higher. Ukrainian authorities reported three people killed and three more injured in a strike on a residential building in the southern city of Kherson. Near the eastern city of Synelnykove, an 11-year-old boy was killed in a separate drone strike, bringing the total number of civilian fatalities reported on Tuesday to eight. Following Tuesday’s wave of drone and artillery strikes, Ukrainian military and civil defense officials confirmed widespread power outages across multiple regions in eastern and southern Ukraine, a disruption that echoes the widespread energy cuts that upended civilian life across the country through the winter months.

On a Tuesday in central Istanbul, a brazen armed assault targeting police outside a high-rise building that hosts the Israeli Consulate left one attacker dead and two others wounded and in custody, senior Turkish government officials have confirmed. The incident, which unfolded in Levent, Istanbul’s bustling core commercial district, sparked an intense shootout between the three assailants and responding law enforcement, leaving two officers with minor injuries.

Istanbul Governor Davut Gul confirmed to reporters that the attackers were armed with long-barreled weapons, with one attacker fatally shot during the exchange of fire. The two surviving suspects, who were wounded in the clash, have been taken into Turkish custody. According to Turkey’s Interior Ministry, the pair are brothers identified only as Onur C. and Enes C., with Onur holding a prior criminal record related to drug offenses. Both are currently undergoing interrogation by law enforcement authorities.

Details of the attackers’ movements and backgrounds have begun to emerge in the hours after the assault. Interior Minister Mustafa Cifti revealed in a post on the social platform X that the three suspects traveled to Istanbul from Izmit, a city located roughly 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of the country’s largest metropolis, in a rented vehicle. Cifti also noted that one of the assailants had ties to a group that “exploits religion,” though he stopped short of naming the specific organization. Turkey has faced repeated deadly terrorist attacks from extremist groups in recent years, most notably the Islamic State group, which has carried out multiple high-profile assaults across the country.

Notably, no Israeli diplomatic personnel were present in the consulate building at the time of the attack. Israel withdrew all of its diplomats from its Turkish missions earlier amid growing security concerns and rapidly deteriorating bilateral relations tied to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Eyewitness accounts from people working and moving through the normally busy business district paint a chaotic picture of the 10-minute shootout. Omer Dilki, a 34-year-old local resident, told reporters that the repeated gunfire stood out in the normally noisy district. “In general, this is a noisy area, so initially we thought this might be something else. But the gunshots continued,” he said, adding that he saw officers taking cover behind parked vehicles and coordinating with one another during the clash. Ali Rıza Arpacı, who works at a business near the consulate building, described witnessing “serious clashes” unfold directly in front of him, saying “We were almost inside the clashes.”

Mobile footage from the scene captured one armed assailant, armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle and wearing a brown backpack, hiding behind a public bus while exchanging gunfire with police. The footage also shows one officer fall to the ground after apparently being struck by gunfire, before rolling to cover behind a nearby tree. Turkish officials later clarified that the two injured officers sustained only minor wounds: one was hit in the leg, while the other suffered a wound to the ear.

In the aftermath of the attack, Turkish law enforcement quickly sealed off the entire building and closed multiple surrounding roads to through traffic. Forensic investigators in white protective hazmat suits have since combed the attack site, collecting shell casings, DNA samples, and other potential evidence to build their case. Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced that three top prosecutors, including one deputy chief prosecutor, have been appointed to lead the ongoing criminal investigation into the assault.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a sharp condemnation of what he called a “treacherous” attack, reaffirming the country’s unwavering counter-terrorism stance. “We will resolutely continue our fight against all forms of terrorism, and we will not allow the climate of security in Turkey to be harmed by vile and timed provocations like today’s,” he said.

International condemnation of the assault followed quickly. U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack condemned the attack, praising Turkish authorities for “their swift and decisive response.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement condemning the assault, and commended Turkish security forces for their rapid action that prevented the attack from causing greater harm.

This report includes a correction to an earlier version of the story, which incorrectly cited Turkish outlet Haberturk to claim two attackers had been killed. Turkish officials have confirmed only one of the three assailants was killed, with the other two wounded and taken into custody. Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara, with additional contribution from Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul.