Ukraine says Russia launched a major aerial attack before Kyiv’s talks with US

Russia launched a barrage of 420 drones and 39 missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday, hours before U.S. and Ukrainian envoys held more talks in Geneva on ending the war that is now in its fifth year.

The bombardment, which included 11 ballistic missiles, targeted critical infrastructure and residential areas across eight regions of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. Dozens of people, including children, were injured, officials said, though authorities did not immediately publish a confirmed total.

Zelenskyy said late Wednesday he had spoken by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump and thanked him for his “efforts and engagement” in pursuing peace negotiations.

The U.S.-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv are continuing but are deadlocked on the issue of Ukrainian territory that Russia claims as its own.

Zelenskyy has pushed for a summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, saying a face-to-face meeting could be decisive in unlocking an agreement, but the Kremlin has rebuffed that proposal beyond inviting the Ukrainian president to Moscow, which Zelenskyy refused.

Trump representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who were also discussing nuclear negotiations with Iran in Geneva before turning to the war in Europe, met with Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. They also joined Trump’s call with Zelenskyy.

The envoys were to discuss economic support and the recovery of Ukraine, ways of attracting investment to the country and frameworks for long-term cooperation, Umerov said on X.

Also, the meeting would look at preparations for the next round of trilateral negotiations involving Russia and consider possible further exchanges of prisoners, according to Umerov.

Washington is looking to keep momentum in its yearlong push to stop the fighting and overcome deep enmity between the warring countries.

Ukrainian and European officials have accused Putin of feigning interest in peace negotiations, hoping to avoid punitive U.S. measures such as additional sanctions while pressing forward with the invasion.

On the streets of Kyiv, people expressed some skepticism about the negotiations and how far Ukrainian concessions should go in return for a peace deal.

“Of course we want peace, we really want it,” said Vitalina Yefimenko, 55, who lives in the southern Ukraine city of Mykolaiv, voicing concern that Russia would invade again in the future.

“But I think that even if something is given up, we will be next — the south. It’s very frightening. Should I leave for another country? I don’t want to,” she said.

Kyiv resident Roman Cheremisienov, 56, said he didn’t trust the Trump administration’s motives, alleging that “current U.S. policy is aimed not so much at achieving peace in Ukraine as at business interests” close to the American president.

Dariia Kuzmenko, a 33-year-old psychology consultant, said Ukraine must hold its nerve because Russia’s economy is suffering under international sanctions over its invasion.

“We need to keep up the pressure, keep defending our position, and our politicians must not give up or be afraid,” Kuzmenko said.

Russia returned 1,000 bodies of fallen soldiers to Ukraine, and got back 35 bodies of its fallen troops, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation at previous talks with Ukraine, said Thursday. He did not say when the exchange happened.

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War later confirmed the return, though it referred to “bodies which, according to preliminary information provided by the Russian side, may belong to Ukrainian defenders.”

Russia struck gas infrastructure in the Poltava region and electrical substations in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Zelenskyy said. Emergency crews responded in five other regions, as well as in the capital.

Ukraine’s air defenses shot down most of the Russian missiles, Zelenskyy said, crediting Western partners for timely delivery of additional air defense interceptors. Ukraine needs foreign help to sustain its fight against Russia’s bigger forces.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allied countries to provide more military aid.

“When the whole world demands Moscow to finally stop this senseless war, Putin bets on more terror, attacks and aggression,” Sybiha said in a post on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 17 Ukrainian drones overnight over a number of Russian regions, as well as the Black and Azov Seas.

Ukraine’s domestically developed long-range drones have struck oil refineries, fuel depots and military logistics hubs deep inside Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia continued to push allegations of a purported plot by European nations to provide Kyiv with a nuclear bomb, without providing any evidence.

The Kremlin-controlled lower house of the Russian parliament on Thursday unanimously approved an address urging the United Nations and European lawmakers to prevent the alleged plan.

It followed a statement by the Russian foreign intelligence service on Tuesday alleging that France and the U.K. were planning to covertly transfer nuclear weapons or components of a “dirty bomb” device.

British and French officials said the claim was a lie.

Kamila Hrabchuk and Dan Bashakov in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this story.

乌克兰总统泽连斯基周四表示，俄罗斯连夜向乌克兰发射了 420 架无人机和 39 枚导弹。几个小时后，美国和乌克兰特使在日内瓦举行了更多会谈，商讨结束这场已经持续五年的战争。

泽连斯基表示，此次轰炸使用了11枚弹道导弹，目标包括乌克兰八个地区的关键基础设施和居民区。官员称，数十人受伤，其中包括儿童，但当局尚未立即公布确切的伤亡人数。

泽连斯基周三晚间表示，他已与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普通了电话，并感谢特朗普为推进和平谈判所做的“努力和参与”。

由美国斡旋的莫斯科与基辅之间的谈判仍在继续，但在俄罗斯声称拥有主权的乌克兰领土问题上陷入僵局。

泽连斯基一直力主与俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京举行峰会，称面对面会晤可能对达成协议起到决定性作用，但克里姆林宫除了邀请乌克兰总统访问莫斯科外，拒绝了这一提议，而泽连斯基也拒绝了这一提议。

特朗普的代表史蒂夫·威特科夫和贾里德·库什纳在日内瓦与伊朗讨论核谈判后，转而关注欧洲战事，期间他们会见了乌克兰国家安全与国防委员会主席鲁斯捷姆·乌梅罗夫。他们还参加了特朗普与泽连斯基的通话。

乌梅罗夫在10月表示，使节们将讨论对乌克兰的经济支持和复苏、吸引投资到该国的方式以及长期合作框架。

据乌梅罗夫称，此次会议还将审视下一轮涉及俄罗斯的三方谈判的准备工作，并考虑进一步交换战俘的可能性。

华盛顿希望保持其为期一年的努力势头，以制止战争并消除交战国之间的深仇大恨。

乌克兰和欧洲官员指责普京假装对和平谈判感兴趣，希望在推进入侵的同时，避免受到美国的惩罚性措施，例如额外的制裁。

在基辅街头，人们对谈判以及乌克兰为换取和平协议应该做出多大让步表示了一些怀疑。

“我们当然想要和平，我们真的很想要和平，”55岁的维塔利娜·叶菲缅科说道，她居住在乌克兰南部城市尼古拉耶夫，并表达了对俄罗斯未来可能再次入侵的担忧。

“但我认为，即便我们做出一些让步，下一个遭殃的也会是我们——南方。这太可怕了。我应该离开去其他国家吗？我不想，”她说。

56岁的基辅居民罗曼·切列米谢诺夫表示，他不信任特朗普政府的动机，并声称“美国当前的政策与其说是为了实现乌克兰的和平，不如说是为了与美国总统关系密切的商业利益”。

33岁的心理咨询师达里娅·库兹缅科表示，乌克兰必须保持冷静，因为俄罗斯的经济正因其入侵行为而遭受国际制裁。

库兹缅科说：“我们需要继续施压，继续捍卫我们的立场，我们的政治家绝不能放弃或害怕。”

俄罗斯代表团团长弗拉基米尔·梅金斯基周四表示，俄罗斯向乌克兰归还了1000具阵亡士兵的遗体，乌克兰也收回了35具阵亡士兵的遗体。他没有透露交接的具体时间。

乌克兰战俘待遇协调总部后来证实了遗体的归还，但称这些遗体“根据俄方提供的初步信息，可能属于乌克兰守军”。

泽连斯基表示，俄罗斯袭击了波尔塔瓦州的天然气基础设施以及基辅州和第聂伯罗彼得罗夫斯克州的变电站。应急人员已在包括首都基辅在内的其他五个地区展开救援行动。

泽连斯基表示，乌克兰防空部队击落了大部分俄罗斯导弹，并感谢西方伙伴及时提供了额外的防空拦截器。乌克兰需要外国援助才能继续对抗俄罗斯更强大的军事力量。

乌克兰外交部长安德烈·西比哈敦促盟国提供更多军事援助。

“当全世界都要求莫斯科最终停止这场毫无意义的战争时，普京却押注于更多的恐怖主义、袭击和侵略，”西比哈在外交部网站上发表的一篇文章中写道。

俄罗斯国防部表示，其防空部队连夜在俄罗斯多个地区以及黑海和亚速海击落了 17 架乌克兰无人机。

乌克兰自主研发的远程无人机袭击了俄罗斯境内的炼油厂、燃料库和军事后勤中心。

与此同时，俄罗斯继续散布欧洲国家密谋向基辅提供核弹的指控，但并未提供任何证据。

周四，由克里姆林宫控制的俄罗斯议会下院一致通过了一项决议，敦促联合国和欧洲立法者阻止所谓的计划。

此前，俄罗斯对外情报局周二发表声明，声称法国和英国正计划秘密转移核武器或“脏弹”装置的部件。

英国和法国官员称这一说法是谎言。

乌克兰基辅的 Kamila Hrabchuk 和 Dan Bashakov 对本文亦有贡献。