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Russia fires 273 drones at Ukraine in largest attack since start of war Zelenskyy meets US vice-president ahead of call with Trump to discuss ending war
(about 7 hours later)
One woman killed in Kyiv region in air offensive that follows first direct peace talks between the two sides Encounter between Ukrainian president and JD Vance comes after Russia launches largest attack since start of war
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met US vice-president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio to prepare for a planned call on Monday with Donald Trump over a way to end three years of war in Ukraine.
The encounter took place on the sidelines of Pope Leo’s inauguration on Sunday.
Trump is also scheduled to speak with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
However, underlining the huge challenges facing efforts to end the war, the meeting came just hours after Russia launched its largest drone strike of the war in Ukraine.
It also comes amid Ukrainian intelligence warning that Moscow may be imminently planning to test fire a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile “to intimidate” Kyiv and its western backers.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said it believed the test would involve an RS-24 Yars missile with a claimed range of more than 10,000km equipped with a training warhead.
There was no immediate response from Moscow to the accusation.
The meeting between Zelenskyy and Vance was the first since the two clashed during talks at the White House in February and lasted about 40 minutes.
Zelenskyy described the meeting as “good” and released pictures of Ukrainian and US officials sitting outside at a round table and smiling.
“I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy added.
A senior Ukrainian official added that Zelenskyy and Vance discussed “the situation on the front, preparations for [Trump’s phone conversations on Monday], the possibility of sanctions against Russia if there are no results, a ceasefire,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The escalating diplomatic efforts come after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years – held in Istanbul on Friday – failed to yield a ceasefire and as European leaders, threatening new sanctions against Moscow, are uniting around efforts to persuade an erratic US president that Putin is not serious about peace.
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland planned to speak to Trump before the US and Russian presidents speak on Monday, German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday.
“I spoke with Marco Rubio, including about the call tomorrow. We agreed that we will speak again with the four state leaders and the US. president in preparation for this conversation (with Putin),” Merz told reporters in Rome.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said that next week would be “crucial” for Ukraine’s future, ahead of the phone call between Trump and Putin.
“What is important now is certainly that we push, that things are moving forward, and I think the next week will be crucial on that,” she said.
Trump on Saturday said that he would speak by phone with Putin to end the “bloodbath” in Ukraine, a day after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in more than three years did not yield a ceasefire.
The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and wounded at least three people, Ukrainian authorities said early on Sunday.The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and wounded at least three people, Ukrainian authorities said early on Sunday.
The attack came two days after Ukraine and Russia held their first direct talks since 2022 and a day before a planned phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The attack came two days after Ukraine and Russia held their first direct talks since 2022 and a day before the planned phone call between Trump and Putin.
Russia launched the 273 drones before 8am local time, targeting chiefly the Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country’s east, Ukraine’s air force said.Russia launched the 273 drones before 8am local time, targeting chiefly the Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country’s east, Ukraine’s air force said.
The attack killed a 28-year-old woman in the capital region and wounded at least three people, including a four-year-old child.The attack killed a 28-year-old woman in the capital region and wounded at least three people, including a four-year-old child.
Data provided by the air force showed this to be Russia’s largest drone attack on Ukraine of the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 23 February, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones.Data provided by the air force showed this to be Russia’s largest drone attack on Ukraine of the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 23 February, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones.
According to the air force, 128 of the drones disappeared from radar during the attack, either crashing from software failures or fuel exhaustion, or because they were decoys without explosives. Another 88 were shot down.According to the air force, 128 of the drones disappeared from radar during the attack, either crashing from software failures or fuel exhaustion, or because they were decoys without explosives. Another 88 were shot down.
Russia and Ukraine have both made increasing use of decoy drones in swarms to try to overwhelm air defences. Other decoys are designed to appear larger than they are on radar systems.Russia and Ukraine have both made increasing use of decoy drones in swarms to try to overwhelm air defences. Other decoys are designed to appear larger than they are on radar systems.
Serhii Kuzan, chair of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre, told the Centre for European Policy Analysis last week: “Many of the drones Russia launches against Ukraine are decoys.
“They are equipped with so-called Luneberg lenses, which increase their radar signature to appear larger, mimicking the appearance of cruise missiles or other aerial threats.”
The decoy drones, which are produced at the same factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan that makes Shaheed-136 drones, are constructed from plywood and foam and designed to look like Shaheeds.
“Decoys force the Ukrainian defenders to shoot them down,” said Kuzan, allowing the Russians “to identify air defence locations and units that can be either bypassed or hit by follow-on strikes.”
Russia has been rapidly scaling up its drone war capacity, producing thousands of real and decoy drones to use against Ukraine.
The large scale of the attack, despite its relatively low impact, is far more significant in terms of the message it sends before Monday’s planned phone call between Putin and Trump, who has demanded an “end to the bloodshed” in Ukraine.The large scale of the attack, despite its relatively low impact, is far more significant in terms of the message it sends before Monday’s planned phone call between Putin and Trump, who has demanded an “end to the bloodshed” in Ukraine.
The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies had been seeking. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.
President Trump said he would also speak to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Monday.
Kyiv and the region around it, as well as the eastern part of Ukraine, were under air raid warnings for nine straight hours overnight until 9am local time. Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram.
“It’s been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations,” Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram.
On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians by hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in north-eastern Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelenskyy called the attack “deliberate” and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility.