Russian attacks kill eight people across Ukraine as US steps up diplomacy

Kyiv rocked by another night of strikes as concern over war’s global economic costs grow.

Burnt-out cars at the site of a strike in Kyiv [Handout vis AFP]

Russian attacks across Ukraine have killed at least eight people as the United States steps up diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the war.

Six people were killed and eight wounded on Thursday in a Russian attack on a farm in northern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.

list 1 of 3 Russia’s strikes on Kyiv, Donetsk kill six after Trump-Zelenskyy talks

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Two more people were killed in Russian attacks on Kyiv, one of them in the car park of a maternity hospital that was damaged, officials said.

The assault included an unspecified number of hypersonic and ballistic missiles, 282 drones and other weapons, Ukraine’s air force said.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it targeted Ukrainian defence sites, logistics and telecommunications hubs, and vessels used by the military.

The ministry also said its forces struck a Black Sea tanker bringing fuel and lubricants to Ukraine’s port of Chornomorsk.

In Russia, falling drone debris sparked a fire at an industrial facility in the southern region of Krasnodar, local authorities said, adding that no one was injured.

Poland’s military said it deployed planes to secure its airspace in response to the attacks on Ukraine. Two Czech fighters were also deployed to aid the effort.

“These measures are preventive in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting the airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to threatened regions,” it said in a post on X.

Poland also said a fire at a Starlink ground station in the centre of the country was deliberate sabotage aimed at cutting internet access for institutions, including the Ukrainian military.

Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski called the incident “hybrid warfare” and said that while responsibility was not established, it “aligns with Russia’s new doctrine of attack”. Moscow has denied carrying out such attacks.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Al Jazeera that NATO had “contingency plans” for what he called Russia’s “provocations”.

Diplomatic overtures

The attacks came after the US had conducted a flurry of diplomacy with the two warring nations in a bid to reduce the impact of the war on the global economy.

On Wednesday, US officials met separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to discuss the war.

Although no agreements were announced, the US invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the next Group of 20 summit in Miami, Florida.

On Thursday, an international investment bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, reported that growth in developing economies was slowing, in part due to the increasing prices of energy and wheat. Ukraine is a top exporter of the grain, much of which is shipped across the Black Sea.

Combines harvest wheat in Ukraine’s embattled Kharkiv region [File: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters]

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called for a full and immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, starting in the Black Sea, to safeguard grain and food supplies.

“Ukraine had a very good grain harvest this year,” he said in a statement. “But because of the Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports, it can’t be delivered to the world. Russia is thereby exacerbating hunger and starvation worldwide.”

The office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea are “inexplicable” and steps must be taken on navigational safety.

Erdogan also told him that Turkiye was ready to do all it could to end the war with a lasting peace and would keep pushing to revive direct talks.

基辅再次遭受夜间罢工的冲击，人们对战争给全球经济带来的损失日益担忧。

基辅罢工现场的烧毁汽车 [法新社供图]

俄罗斯在乌克兰境内发动的袭击已造成至少八人死亡，与此同时，美国加大了外交努力，以缓和战争局势。

乌克兰哈尔科夫州州长奥列格·西涅胡博夫在 Telegram 上表示，周四，俄罗斯袭击了乌克兰北部哈尔科夫州的一个农场，造成 6 人死亡，8 人受伤。

列表 1/3：特朗普与泽连斯基会谈后，俄罗斯对基辅和顿涅茨克发动袭击，造成六人死亡

乌克兰总统泽连斯基呼吁持续施压，结束“普京的疯狂战争”（共3条，此为第2条）

特朗普政府邀请普京出席迈阿密G20峰会（共3条，此为第3条）

官员称，俄罗斯对基辅的袭击又造成两人死亡，其中一人在一家受损的妇产医院停车场内丧生。

乌克兰空军称，此次袭击动用了数量不明的高超音速和弹道导弹、282架无人机和其他武器。

俄罗斯国防部表示，袭击目标是乌克兰的国防设施、后勤和电信枢纽以及军用船只。

该部还表示，其部队袭击了一艘向乌克兰切尔诺莫尔斯克港运送燃料和润滑油的黑海油轮。

俄罗斯地方当局称，无人机残骸坠落引发南部克拉斯诺达尔地区一家工业设施起火，所幸无人受伤。

波兰军方表示，为应对乌克兰遭受的袭击，已部署飞机以确保其领空安全。两架捷克战斗机也已部署到位，协助执行相关任务。

“这些措施本质上是预防性的，旨在确保和保护空域，特别是与受威胁地区相邻的空域，”它在 X 上发布的一篇文章中说。

波兰方面还表示，该国中部一个星链地面站发生的火灾是蓄意破坏，目的是切断包括乌克兰军方在内的机构的互联网接入。

俄罗斯副总理克日什托夫·加夫科夫斯基称此次事件为“混合战争”，并表示虽然尚未确定责任方，但这“符合俄罗斯新的攻击理论”。莫斯科否认发动过此类袭击。

波兰外交部长拉多斯瓦夫·西科尔斯基告诉半岛电视台，北约针对他所谓的俄罗斯“挑衅”制定了“应急计划”。

外交示好

袭击发生之前，美国曾与交战双方展开了一系列外交斡旋，试图减少战争对全球经济的影响。

周三，美国官员在纽约联合国大会期间分别与俄罗斯和乌克兰官员会面，讨论战争问题。

尽管没有宣布任何协议，但美国邀请俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京出席在佛罗里达州迈阿密举行的下一届二十国集团峰会。

周四，国际投资银行——欧洲复兴开发银行发布报告称，发展中经济体的增长正在放缓，部分原因是能源和小麦价格上涨。乌克兰是小麦的主要出口国，其中大部分小麦经由黑海运输。

联合收割机在乌克兰战乱地区哈尔科夫收割小麦 [图片：Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/路透社]

德国外交部长约翰·瓦德普尔呼吁乌克兰立即全面停火，首先从黑海地区开始，以保​​障粮食和食品供应。

他在一份声明中说：“乌克兰今年的粮食收成非常好。但由于俄罗斯袭击乌克兰港口，这些粮食无法运往世界各地。俄罗斯此举加剧了全球的饥饿和饥荒。”

土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安的办公室表示，他告诉乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基，黑海发生的商船袭击事件“令人费解”，必须采取措施保障航行安全。

埃尔多安还告诉他，土耳其准备尽一切努力以持久和平结束战争，并将继续推动恢复直接对话。