Russia Launches 114 Drones, Missiles Across Ukraine Ahead of Planned Peace Talks

The Ukrainian military said on Saturday that Russia has launched a total of 114 drones and missiles across Ukraine between Friday evening and Saturday morning. 

The attacks, recorded since 7:30 p.m. on Friday, targeted eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Sumy and Donetsk regions. 

As a result of the attack, fires broke out across multiple communities in the Sumy region, damaging a cultural center, a livestock farm, non-residential buildings and an agricultural enterprise, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service on Saturday.

The drone and missile attack consisted of 107 drones (including decoys), two S-300 missiles air defense repurposed for ground strikes and three Kh-59/69 air-launched cruise missiles, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU). 

Russia also dropped aerial guided bombs in central Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region overnight, killing a nine-year-old girl and wounding a 16-year-old boy. 

Ukraine downed 69 drones and the three air-launched cruise missiles, out of which 42 were downed by conventional interception and the other 30 were downed by electronic warfare (EW) systems, the update says.

Russian troops also used two unspecified jet-powered drones launched from the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, according to the update. 

The attack came just days before Monday’s planned peace talks in Istanbul unilaterally initiated by Moscow. 

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During his visit to Estonia, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine and Estonia have signed a Joint Declaration on strengthening security and defense cooperation. The document covers the exchange of military experience, defense industry cooperation, and air defense, with a separate agreement under the Drone Deal format still in the works. Zelensky framed the declaration as part of broader joint action with European partners, alongside sanctions pressure and Ukraine’s EU membership path.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced the talks on Wednesday evening and said Moscow would present a memorandum towards a ceasefire to Kyiv at the talks. Kyiv has not confirmed its attendance and said the memorandum should be presented after last weekend’s prisoner swap as agreed, adding that the meeting would not yield results unless it saw a copy of the memorandum in advance.

Kyiv has presented its version of the document to Washington and Moscow, where unnamed Ukrainian officials reportedly told the New York Times that it centered on a full ceasefire monitored by international partners. 

Reuters, citing its Kremlin sources, said Moscow’s version contains maximalist demands such as a freeze on NATO expansion, removal of sanctions, and Ukraine’s permanent neutrality

Despite the lack of documents from Moscow before the talks, Washington’s Ukraine Envoy Keith Kellogg has urged Kyiv to attend Monday’s talks nonetheless.