Russian attacks kill 3 as diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine gain momentum

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian drone and missile attacks in and around the Ukraine’s capital killed at least three people early Saturday, officials said, as the country’s representatives traveled to the U.S. to work on a renewed push to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that the delegation, headed by national security chief Rustem Umerov, was on its way to “swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war.” A U.S. delegation is then expected to travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of next week.

The Kyiv City Military Administration said two people were killed in the strikes on the capital, and a woman died, and eight were wounded in a combined missile and drone attack on the broader Kyiv region, according to the regional police.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 29 people were wounded in Kyiv, noting that falling debris from intercepted Russian drones hit residential buildings. He also said the western part of Kyiv had lost power.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week released a plan for ending the nearly four-year war. The 28-point proposal heavily favored Russia, prompting Zelenskyy to quickly engage with American negotiators. European leaders, fearing for their own future in the face of Russian aggression, scrambled to steer the negotiations toward accommodating their concerns.

Trump said Tuesday that his plan to end the war had been “fine-tuned” and that he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet with Putin. He suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelenskyy, but not until further progress has been made in negotiations.

Trump administration officials were meeting in Florida this weekend with their Ukrainian counterparts. The meeting was set to include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to a U.S. official who requested anonymity to describe meeting details not made public.

Zelenskyy announced Friday that the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, who was also the country’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S, after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak’s residence.

The unprecedented search at the heart of Ukraine’s government was a blow to the Ukrainian leader, risking the disruption of his negotiating strategy at a time when Kyiv is under intense U.S. pressure to sign a peace deal.

Zelenskyy will travel to Paris on Monday for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron’s office said the two leaders will “discuss the situation and the conditions for a just and lasting peace, in continuity with the Geneva discussions, the American plan, and in close coordination with our European partners.”

In Russia, a major oil terminal near the port of Novorossiysk stopped operations Saturday after a strike by unmanned boats damaged one of its three mooring points, according to a statement from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, or CPC, which owns the terminal.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, confirmed that Ukraine had carried out the attack.

“Ukrainian special forces worked on the Russian Federation, its energy sector and infrastructure. In particular, naval drones managed to destroy one of the three oil tanker berths of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the Novorossiysk area,” he wrote on Telegram.

Months of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries and terminals have aimed to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the war.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and its western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the biting cold.

A Ukrainian security service official from the SBU, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of their operations, said that Ukraine used domestically produced Sea Baby naval drones to strike two oil tankers in the Black Sea said to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that evade sanctions.

The Kairos and Virat tankers were struck in quick succession late Friday afternoon, prompting rescue operations. Crew members on board both vessels were reported to be safe.

The SBU official sent a video of the alleged attack, purporting to show the destruction of two tankers at sea.

“The SBU continues to take active steps to curtail Russia’s financial capabilities to wage war against Ukraine. Sea Baby naval drones disabled ships that could transport oil worth almost $70 million and helped the Kremlin circumvent international sanctions,” the official told The Associated Press.

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Associated Press writer Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Fla., contributed to this report.