Ukraine hit by multiple Russian strikes amid US-led push for end to war

As diplomatic efforts to end the grinding war in Ukraine accelerate in Washington, there has been no let-up in the fighting as Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles in an overnight attack on the country, the Ukrainian air force said.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Russia had targeted energy facilities in the central Poltava region, home to Ukraine’s only oil refinery, causing large fires on Tuesday.The attack was the largest this month, and came a day after United States President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House for talks on his peace efforts.

Russia and Ukraine also said they swapped more bodies of their fallen soldiers on Tuesday as part of deals reached during peace talks in Istanbul, Turkiye earlier this year.

“Today, we handed over 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers to the Ukrainian side. They gave us 19,” Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led Russia’s delegation during the three rounds of talks facilitated by Turkiye, said on Telegram.

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed receiving the bodies of 1,000 of its servicemen, expressing gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross for assisting in the swap.Peace efforts reached an advanced stage after last week’s summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, and then a follow-up meeting between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington on Monday.

Major sticking points of the peace talks are said to be potential land swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine.