Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy contended that the level of backing provided by the United States fell short of what the situation demanded, a position he staked out as Russian air attacks left 78 people dead and 215 wounded across the country over a two-day span, deepening disagreements over how Washington has handled its role in the conflict.
Munitions struck two passenger buses in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Thursday, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18 others in a Russian aerial bombardment that drew condemnation from multiple quarters. Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin stated that Russian forces had intentionally targeted civilian areas in Kramatorsk. Russian officials have consistently put forward the position that strikes on civilian areas were not carried out with deliberate intent.
A residential building in Pryluky was among the sites reduced to rubble during the night, with 22 people killed there, as strikes on towns and cities across Ukraine the day before had extended into a pattern of wide-ranging aerial bombardment. Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reported that Thursday's strikes on the Ukrainian capital left three people dead and wounded 14 others.
Addressing a gathering in Pryluky, Zelenskiy called on Washington to broaden Ukraine's access to Starlink satellite technology, arguing the move would bolster the country's capacity to detect and strike Russian ballistic missile launch positions. Zelenskiy contended that the precedent for opening such a pathway had already been set during the response to Iran, and that comparable military support for Ukraine could bring pressure to bear on Putin at the negotiating table.
Zelenskiy took issue with Secretary of State Marco Rubio's assessment that the Russia-Ukraine war had reached a stalemate, arguing that what he described as inadequate diplomatic engagement reflected an absence of political will, a position he maintained even as preliminary discussions over potential economic ties between Washington and Moscow were reported to be under way.
Talks between senior American and Russian officials — among them US Special Envoy Jared Kushner — on the prospect of American investment in the Nord Stream gas pipelines were reported by a news outlet, with those pipelines having previously carried Russian natural gas through to Germany.
Ukrainian negotiators were set to travel to the United States on Friday and Saturday for a new round of diplomatic talks, as Zelenskiy pressed Trump to strengthen the sanctions regime against Moscow.
Strikes attributed to Russian forces were reported at multiple points across Ukrainian territory. Aerial bombardment targeting Ukrainian power plants, storage depots, and data infrastructure has grown in frequency and scale, with the approach of winter sharpening anxieties over the reliability of electricity supplies.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the intensifying strikes as evidence that Moscow was prioritising the destruction of civilian infrastructure over any path toward dialogue.
