Russia and Ukraine traded successive drone attacks causing casualties, just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with European leaders in London.
Early Monday, a Russian attack in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region killed five people and wounded 14, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov on Telegram. Fedorov said Russian forces struck the area with drones and artillery, damaging infrastructure, homes, and vehicles.
In Odesa province, Russian attacks on energy infrastructure left over 1,000 customers without power, Governor Oleh Kiper reported on Telegram. This came a day after Russian forces targeted a nuclear fuel storage facility near the decommissioned Chornobyl power plant.
On the Ukrainian side, forces struck multiple Russian targets. A drone hit a train in annexed Crimea, killing an assistant driver and injuring the driver, according to Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov on Telegram.
Russian air defense units also intercepted a drone attack on energy infrastructure in Volgograd province overnight. Falling debris sparked a fire at a pumping station in Zhirnovsky district, Governor Andrei Bocharov said, though no casualties were reported.
In Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, a cargo handling complex caught fire after a drone strike. Local authorities said no one was injured, while 130 firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.
The strikes followed Zelenskyy's receipt of support from the leaders of Britain, France, and Germany for his proposal for direct ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, after a meeting in London on Sunday. The group of European nations, known as E3, have been prominent backers of Ukraine in the ongoing war.
In an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, Zelenskyy proposed a direct meeting and expressed readiness for a "comprehensive ceasefire." However, Putin rejected the offer, saying such a meeting currently had no purpose.
In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron "welcomed" Zelenskyy's call to end the war and his proposal for direct dialogue with Putin, with active participation from the United States and Europe.
"For Ukraine, it has always been a top priority that Europe's voice and position in negotiations are strong," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
