Deadly air attack on the city of Dnipro comes hours before Ukrainian officials meet US and European officials in Paris.
A large-scale Russian drone attack in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has killed three people, including a young girl, according to the regional governor, hours before officials from the United States, Europe and Ukraine gather in Paris to discuss the conflict.
Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said the attacks that also injured tens of people came late on Wednesday, triggering multiple fires and damaging a dozen apartment buildings.
A student residence, an educational institution and a food processing plant were also damaged, Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov added.
Photos posted online showed raging fires, burned-out vehicles and buildings with shattered windows and scorched facades, as emergency crews worked through the night.
Sixteen of the injured are in hospital, one of them in critical condition, according to Lysak.
“This is the latest in a series of strikes that have continued to hit civilian areas,” Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi reported from Kyiv.
Elsewhere, a separate Russian missile attack wounded two people in the northeastern town of Izyum, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have shot down 71 Ukrainian drones overnight, most targeting the Kursk region. Russian officials also claimed Kyiv waged a drone attack on the town of Shuya, east of Moscow, causing no casualties.
Deal ‘not easy’
The attacks come as the war grinds into its 38th month, despite efforts by US President Donald Trump to broker a ceasefire, including by demanding concessions from Kyiv and making diplomatic overtures to Russia that have angered Ukraine.
Later on Thursday, two senior Trump administration officials – Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff – are due to meet in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and top European diplomats for talks on Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign and defence ministers are among those in the city to participate in talks, according to Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office.
Ukrainians remain sceptical that the US diplomatic push would “work out in their favour”, but officials are still hoping for an about-face from Washington, Basravi said.
So far, Moscow has rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, insisting that key details remain unresolved, while continuing to bomb its neighbour.
A Russian ballistic missile attack in the heart of the northeastern city of Sumy on Sunday was one of the deadliest of the war, killing 36 people, including two children, and injuring 119 as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday.
The attack, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was “mocking” the US’s “goodwill”.
Still, US envoy Witkoff insisted on Monday that Putin remains open to a “permanent peace” agreement. On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that finalising terms is “not easy”.
