Russian attacks kill three in Kyiv as Ukrainian delegation travels to US amid peace push

Russian drone and missile strikes in and around kyiv killed at least three people early Saturday, officials said, as the country’s representatives traveled to the United States to work on a new push to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, will meet with Ukrainian officials on Sunday in Florida, a senior US official told News themezone.

An American delegation is then expected to travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of next week. The kyiv City Military Administration said two people were killed in attacks on the capital, one woman was killed and eight were wounded in a combined missile and drone attack in the kyiv region, according to regional police.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 29 people were injured in kyiv and noted that debris that fell from the intercepted Russian drones hit residential buildings. He also said the western part of Kyiv had been left without electricity.

US President Donald Trump last week. launched a plan to end the almost four-year war. The 28-point proposal Russia highly favoredprompting Zelenskyy to quickly engage in dialogue with American negotiators. European leaders, fearing for their own future in the face of Russian aggression, rushed to steer negotiations to accommodate their concerns.

Trump said Tuesday that his plan to end the war had been “fine-tuned” and that he would send envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet with Putin and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Ukrainian officials. He suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelenskyy, but not until greater progress has been made in negotiations.

Zelenskyy announced on Friday resignation of his powerful chief of staffAndrii Yermak, who was also the country’s chief negotiator in talks with the United States, after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak’s residence. The unprecedented search within Ukraine’s government was a blow to the Ukrainian leader, who risks altering his negotiating strategy at a time when kyiv is under intense pressure from the United States to sign a peace deal.

In Russia, a major oil terminal near the port of Novorossiysk suspended operations Saturday after an attack by unmanned ships damaged one of its three mooring points, according to a statement from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, or CPC, which owns the terminal.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, confirmed that Ukraine had carried out the attack.

“Ukrainian special forces worked in the Russian Federation, its energy sector and its infrastructure. In particular, naval drones managed to destroy one of the three oil tanker docks of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the Novorossiysk region,” he wrote on Telegram.

Months of Ukrainian long-range drone attacks on Russian refineries and terminals have aimed to deprive Moscow of oil export revenues it the war needs to continue.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to paralyze the Ukrainian power grid and denying civilians access to heat, electricity and running water for the fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the biting cold. An official from Ukraine’s SBU security service, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of its operations, said Ukraine used domestically produced Sea Baby naval drones to attack two oil tankers in the Black Sea that are said to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” evading sanctions.

Oil tankers Kairos and Virat were attacked in quick succession on Friday afternoon, prompting rescue operations. Crew members aboard both vessels are reported to be safe.

The SBU official sent a video of the alleged attack, which purported to show the destruction of two oil tankers at sea.

“The SBU continues to take active measures to limit Russia’s financial capabilities to wage war against Ukraine. Sea Baby naval drones disabled ships that could carry nearly $70 million worth of oil and helped the Kremlin circumvent international sanctions,” the official told The News.