Russian Strikes Kill Five in Ukraine as Putin Dismisses Peace Proposal

Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least five people in Ukraine, said regional officials on Sunday, even as President Vladimir Putin dismissed a Ukrainian peace overture as a tactical ploy and vowed to press ahead with Moscow's military objectives.

Strikes on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed two people and injured 16, Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram. Pictures posted online showed a building ablaze and parts of a neighbourhood reduced to rubble. In the northeastern border region of Kharkiv, a missile strike on the town of Zmiiv killed one person and injured eight, including two children, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Police in the Kharkiv region also said an officer was killed during an evacuation effort further north. In the Sumy region, also on the Russian border, an elderly woman was killed in an area near the border, the regional governor said.

The attacks came as Putin, in an interview with Russian state television, rejected what he described as a Ukrainian proposal to halt long-range strikes, framing it as a desperate attempt to buy time amid a "catastrophic" shortage of personnel along the 1,250-km front line.

"It is clear why this proposal is being made, because our counter-strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are much stronger, have greater impact and are, frankly, more destructive," Putin said, according to Reuters. "Given their catastrophic shortage of personnel, the Ukrainian Armed Forces apparently believe this could be their salvation. But saving the Kyiv regime is not part of our plans."

Putin Reaffirms Maximalist War Aims

In the television interview, Putin said that Ukrainian attacks were "aimed at diverting our attention and forces from achieving the main objectives – the complete liberation of Donbas and Novorossiya," a reference to the two regions of the Donbas and the adjacent regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Seven months after its 2022 invasion, Russia annexed the four regions — the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Donbas, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which it only partly controls. Putin has long insisted that Ukraine abandon its remaining positions in Donetsk Region in Donbas as a key condition of any peace deal.

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin's remarks. Zelenskiy wrote an open letter to Putin this month proposing a face-to-face meeting, which the Russian leader has rejected.

Russia Acknowledges Fuel Shortages

Addressing Ukraine's medium- and long-range drone campaign, Putin acknowledged that the strikes had triggered fuel shortages in various Russian regions but said Russia was coping well in tackling them. "The first task is to quickly and significantly ramp up production of those air defence systems that are most needed," Putin said.

However, he insisted that the attacks were not affecting the battlefield situation. "All the strikes, wherever they hit our infrastructure, absolutely do not affect the situation on the front, on the line of combat contact," he said.

Russia Waiting on US Engagement After Iran Conflict

Putin said Russia was expecting a resumption of US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war and a new visit to Moscow by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner once the "hot phase" of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran was resolved.

He appeared to agree with comments last week by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that no formal agreement had been reached at Putin's talks in Alaska last year with US President Donald Trump, although US proposals had been discussed. "Nobody signed anything, but we talked about certain possibilities for ending the conflict in Ukraine," Putin said.

Belarus Could Mediate

In his comments, Putin also suggested that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, with whom he held two days of talks this week, could assist with peace talks. He made no reference to Ukraine's allegations that Russia was trying to involve Belarus further in the conflict. Belarus allowed its territory to be used to launch Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters was unable to independently verify accounts from either side. Both Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians in the more than four-year-old conflict.