Russian Air Assault On Kharkiv Kills Three As Ukraine Pursues Ceasefire Efforts

Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region killed a pregnant woman and two others on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said, while authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea reported repelling a separate drone attack.

The latest exchange of attacks comes amid intensified aerial warfare between the two sides. Russia has launched repeated large-scale air strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks, while Kyiv has stepped up long-range drone attacks targeting Russian oil infrastructure, contributing to fuel shortages in Crimea and other areas.

The attacks also unfolded against renewed diplomatic activity. Late on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a "positive" phone conversation with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and welcomed their willingness to work actively toward a negotiated settlement in the coming weeks.

Last week, Zelenskyy published an open letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing direct talks aimed at ending the war, now entering its fifth year. The proposal was swiftly rejected by Moscow.

"There are different people around Putin. Half of them want to continue this war and the other half want to stop it," Zelenskyy said in an interview with the Guardian that he later shared on X. "Businessmen understand that the Russian economy is in a terrible situation."

Putin said last week at an annual business forum in St Petersburg that while Ukrainian attacks had caused damage, they posed no threat to Russia’s economy.

The latest strikes came as Zelenskyy returned from meetings in London with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, who expressed support for efforts to pursue ceasefire negotiations.

Regional prosecutors said an overnight missile strike on the town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region killed three people, including a 22-year-old pregnant woman. Residential buildings, garages and shops were damaged, while six others were injured.

In Kharkiv city, Ukraine’s second-largest urban centre, a Russian drone strike left 16 people seeking medical treatment, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov. Images released by officials showed a building on fire, with emergency crews working to contain the blaze and extinguish burnt vehicles.

Meanwhile, in Sevastopol in Russian-annexed Crimea — home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet — air defence systems were responding to a drone attack, according to Russian-installed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev.

Diplomatic efforts led by the United States to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine have slowed as Washington’s focus has shifted towards efforts to resolve the conflict involving Iran.

According to a source familiar with the discussions, U.S. and Ukrainian officials remain in talks over a possible visit to Kyiv by Witkoff and Kushner. If confirmed, it would mark the first official visit to Ukraine by the two envoys, who have previously travelled to Moscow for discussions with Russian officials.

At the UN Security Council on Monday, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said Nordic countries supported Zelenskyy’s proposal for an immediate ceasefire and direct negotiations with Putin.

Zelenskyy also revealed on Sunday that he had met Russian businessman Roman Abramovich in Kyiv and that Abramovich had offered to carry a message to the Kremlin regarding peace prospects.

"I told this businessman, who came to deliver the message about a potential framework of diplomatic negotiations, that we were ready to speak from the very beginning. We didn't want this war, and we want to stop it," he said in his interview with the Guardian.

Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not surrender territory.

A Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Zelenskyy published his open letter to Putin after receiving no response to the message conveyed through Abramovich.

(Reuters reported)