Ukraine launched a wave of drone strikes on Russia Sunday, triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant as it celebrated Ukrainian independence day against a backdrop of fading hopes for recent peace efforts.
After a flurry of diplomacy and a push by US President Donald Trump to broker a summit between his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, the prospects for peace appeared to stall on Friday when Russia ruled out any immediate meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The three-and-a-half-year war, which has killed tens of thousands of people, has ground to a virtual stalemate, though Russia has managed to eke out recent advances in a grinding offensive — including claiming two villages in the eastern Donetsk region Saturday.
Ukraine hit back Sunday by sending drones on fresh attacks on Russian territory, including one that was shot down over the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in western Russia, which detonated upon impact and sparked a fire, according to the facility.
The plant said the fire had been extinguished, adding there were no casualties or increased radiation levels.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones had also been shot down over areas sometimes far from the front, including Saint Petersburg in the northwest.
Ten drones were shot down over the port of Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland, sparking a fire at a fuel terminal owned by Russian energy group Novatek, regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s smaller, outgunned army has relied heavily on drones to respond to Russia’s invasion, notably targeting oil infrastructure to hit a key source of Moscow’s revenues to fund the war.
Russia has seen soaring fuel prices since the attacks began.
Ukraine meanwhile said Russia had attacked it overnight with a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, 48 of which the air force said had been shot down.
A Russian drone strike killed a 47-year-old woman in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governor said.
– ‘Ukraine is a fighter’ –
The latest fighting came as Ukraine marked the anniversary of gaining independence in 1991 in the break-up of the Soviet Union.
“This is how Ukraine strikes when its calls for peace are ignored,” Zelensky said in an independence day address.
“Today, both the US and Europe agree: Ukraine has not yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose. Ukraine has secured its independence. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney travelled to Kyiv for the commemorations, calling for “a just and lasting peace for Ukraine”.
Zelensky thanked other world leaders including Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, King Charles and the pope for sending messages to mark the occasion.
Russia now controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
The fighting has forced millions of people to flee their homes and destroyed cities and villages across the east and south of Ukraine.
Putin has repeatedly rebuffed calls from Ukraine and the West for an unconditional and immediate ceasefire.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “no meeting” between Putin and Zelensky was planned as Trump’s mediation efforts appeared to stall, while Zelensky accused Russia of trying to prolong the offensive.
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