Two dead in Russia as Ukrainian energy infrastructure targeted and peace talks continue

At least two people were killed in a drone strike in Russia’s southwestern Saratov region and parts of Ukraine were left without power after targeted attacks on energy infrastructure, local authorities said on Saturday during US-led peace talks. ending the war press.

The drone strike damaged a residential building and several windows were also blown out at a kindergarten and clinic, Saratov regional governor Roman Busargin said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had shot down 41 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.

In Ukraine, Russia launched nighttime drone and missile attacks on five Ukrainian regions, targeting energy and port infrastructure. Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Saturday that more than a million people in the country are without electricity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia sent more than 450 drones and 30 missiles to Ukraine overnight.

An attack on the Black Sea city of Odesa caused grain silos in the port to catch fire, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Reconstruction Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said.

Two people were injured in attacks on the wider Odesa region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.

Kiev and its Western allies say Russia is trying to do that cripple Ukraine’s power grid and denying citizens access to heat, light and running water for the fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.

The latest round of attacks came after Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Friday that Russian police and National Guard will remain in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas and monitor the industrial-rich region even if a peace settlement ends Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine. This underlines Moscow’s ambition to maintain its presence in the Donbas after the war. Ukraine probably will reject such a position as US-led negotiations dragging along.

Moscow will only give its blessing to a ceasefire after Ukrainian forces withdraw from the front line, Ushakov said in comments published in Russian business magazine Kommersant.

Meanwhile, Germany will host Zelenskyy on Monday for talks as peace efforts gain momentum Looking for European leaders to guide the negotiations.

For months, U.S. negotiators have tried to meet both sides’ demands as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for a quick end to the war in Russia as he grows increasingly irritated by the delays. The search for possible compromises has hit a major obstacle over who controls the Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Russian forces.