Russian strikes kill 12 in eastern Ukraine

Kathmandu: Russian strikes overnight had killed at least 12 people in eastern Ukraine as of Saturday morning, the country’s emergency service said, days ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia between US and Ukrainian negotiators aimed at a truce.

According to the AFP news agency, a Russian assault hit the centre of Dobropillia in Ukraine’s Donetsk region late Friday, killing 11 people and wounding 30. Separately, one person was killed in a drone attack and seven others wounded early Saturday in the city of Bogodukhiv, said Kharkiv region military head Oleg Synegubov.

The overnight air raids come after US President Donald Trump threatened new sanctions and tariffs on Russia but said it may be “easier” to work with Moscow than Kyiv on efforts to end the three-year war.

After Trump publicly berated Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky during a White House meeting and suspended US aid to Kyiv in a stated bid to encourage diplomacy, the US president told reporters Friday that he trusted Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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