CNN
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At least nine people have been killed and seven injured in a Russian drone attack on a bus in northeastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, just hours after the two countries met for their first direct peace talks in three years.
The two sides discussed the possibility of a meeting between the leaders of both countries, ceasefires and ceasefires, and agreed to exchange prisoners, but the Russian air attacks have continued since.
The drone attack took place Saturday morning in Bilopiria city in the Smee area, local authorities said seven people were injured, three of whom were in danger, along with Smee’s junta chief Ole Hlikholov.
“This is not just another artillery fire. It’s a sarcastic war crime,” the Ukrainian national police told Telegram. Police and local governments said Russia had hit targets of civilians.
Moscow has not yet claimed that Ukraine’s claims had been attacked by civilian buses.
However, the Russian state communications agency TASS reported roughly at the same time, citing a statement from the Ministry of Defense that Russian forces had attacked Ukrainian equipment staging sites in the Smie region with drones.
Russia and Ukraine are accusing each other of targeting civilians they are denying.
Images shared by Ukrainian national police showed a severely damaged van with large holes drilled on the right and top of the passenger seat. The windows and windshields were shattered.
All over Ukraine, Russian attacks have killed at least 13 people and injured more than 38 in the last 24 hours. Two people have been killed in the Donetsk region, and one has been killed in both the Harkiv and Harson regions.
Friday’s speech marked the first in-person meeting between the two since the early weeks of the war.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the meeting in Istanbul, where Turkey is chaired. Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky also left because he said he would not meet Putin, not other Russian officials.
During discussions, Russia demanded that Ukraine still have to give away the land under Kiev’s control. A source familiar with Friday’s negotiations told CNN, a position Ukraine has long rejected. Leaders from Britain, France, Germany and Poland called for Russia’s demands with “unacceptable” lectures.
On Saturday, the Kremlin said there could be a meeting between Zelensky and Putin, but only if certain conditions are met.
“Such meetings are possible as a result of the work of both delegates in reaching a particular agreement,” said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin.
Peskov also spoke about preparing a list of “conditions” for the ceasefire contract. It will be exchanged for the Ukrainian side. Kiev and his allies have repeatedly called for an unconditional ceasefire, accusing Russia of deliberately holding peace efforts.
