Russian drone strike on bus in Ukraine kills 12 miners as more peace talks loom
Ukraine’s first deputy PM condemns ‘targeted’ attack on energy workers as Zelensky says next trilateral peace talks to be February 4-5
A Russian drone strike on a bus carrying miners killed at least 12 people, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky announced new peace talks amid uncertainty over a Russian suspension of attacks on energy infrastructure.
First Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the strike in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region was a “cynical and targeted” attack on energy workers. Their employer DTEK said the victims were finishing a shift.
Kyiv is under US pressure to agree a peace deal in the nearly four-year war while grappling with a Russian campaign of air strikes that has ravaged its energy system during one of the coldest winters in years.
The first round of US-backed trilateral talks between Ukraine and Russia took place in late January, but led to no movement on the vital question of territory, with Moscow still demanding Kyiv cede more land in its war-torn east, which it refuses to do.
Zelensky said the new round would take place on February 4 and 5, and that Ukraine - also struggling to stop grinding Russian advances on the battlefield - was ready for “substantive” talks.