Moscow, Nov 9. (dpa/GNA) – Russia and Ukraine have once again traded heavy strikes, bombarding energy facilities, as their representatives prepare for a new round of US-mediated talks on ending the war.
Russia’s strikes included an attack on energy infrastructure in the Odessa region, killing three people, officials reported on Monday.
Ukraine’s state-owned energy supplier, Ukrenergo, reported power cuts in various regions, in some cases lasting up to 16 hours a day.
Ukrainian air defence forces said, they had shot down 276 out of a total of 317 Russian drones.
Ukraine launched drone attacks in the Leningrad region around St Petersburg, setting fire to one of Russia’s largest oil refineries.
The region’s governor, Alexander Drozdenko, reported that 113 drones had been shot down over Leningrad alone. Drozdenko said a woman was killed when a residential building was hit.
The information provided by the warring parties cannot typically be verified by independent sources.
Ukraine and Russia are set to resume negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, under US mediation, for the first time since February.
Representatives are expected to discuss steps towards a possible end to the war.
Moscow has previously rejected an offer by Kiev for a ceasefire on energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said he spoke to European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen by phone, on Monday morning about the challenges Ukraine is facing amid continued Russian attacks.
In a post on X, he said he had highlighted the “very difficult situation with power, water, and heating supplies, due to Russian strikes,” adding that the situation was worst in Kiev, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, in the Sumy region, in the Donetsk region and in Kherson.
Zelensky said the two leaders had agreed that the European Union would activate a “special emergency mechanism,” to enable the bloc to quickly provide Ukraine with financial resources. He did not provide further details.
“We discussed additional energy and humanitarian assistance, to prepare for winter, as well as issues related to European integration,” Zelensky added. He said the conversation also focused on coordinating positions ahead of the Abu Dhabi talks. “We are doing everything to ensure that the trilateral format delivers results,” Zelensky said.
In a statement, von der Leyen said she and Zelensky had discussed ongoing peace efforts as well as the talks in Abu Dhabi, where she said “the EU will be present alongside our partners.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said in Moscow that the talks were being mediated by the United States and that the EU would not be at the table in Abu Dhabi.
GNA