KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched a major overnight missile and drone barrage on Ukraine early Saturday as U.S. and Ukrainian officials met for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year war.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia used 653 drones and 51 missiles in the wide-reaching assault, prompting air raid alerts across the country on the day Ukraine marked Armed Forces Day. Ukrainian forces shot down or neutralized 585 drones and 30 missiles, the air force said, and reported 29 locations struck.
At least eight people were wounded, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, including at least three in the Kyiv region. Drone sightings were reported as far west as Lviv.
Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, said the attack was a “massive missile-drone attack” on power stations and energy infrastructure in several regions. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said energy facilities were the main targets and that a drone strike had “burned down” the Fastiv train station in the Kyiv region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 116 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight. Russian Telegram channel Astra posted video it said showed a fire at the Ryazan Oil Refinery after a Ukrainian strike; The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage. Ryazan regional governor Pavel Malkov reported a residential building damaged in a drone attack and debris falling on an “industrial facility,” without mentioning a refinery.
Months of Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian refineries aim to cut Moscow’s oil export revenue used to fund the war. Ukrainian officials and Western allies say Russia is targeting Ukraine’s power grid to deprive civilians of heat, light and running water for a fourth winter, a tactic Kyiv calls “weaponizing” the cold.
The attacks came as U.S. President Donald Trump’s advisers and Ukrainian officials met in Florida for a second day Friday and planned a third day of talks Saturday to discuss a security framework for postwar Ukraine. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov said they had made progress but cautioned that “real progress toward any agreement” depends on Russia’s willingness to commit to long-term peace.
