Ukrainian attacks on holiday camps in the partly Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region have killed 12 people, Moscow-installed officials said Saturday, while authorities in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region said a Russian drone strike killed three people. The strikes followed a major Russian attack on Friday near Kyiv that killed at least 10 people and wounded around 100 others, part of a relentless cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that dims the potential of reaching a diplomatic end to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of its neighbor. The exchange comes as Ukraine’s successful drome attacks have stalled the Russian army’s advances in an expanded campaign by Kyiv inside Russia that has been hitting high-profile targets, causing fuel shortages and piling pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Four children were among 12 people killed in the attack on the resorts in Zaporizhzhia, Yevgeny Balitsky, the Kremlin-installed regional head, said, adding that 19 others were wounded. Ukraine did not immediately comment. Sumy regional head Oleh Hryhorov said on Saturday three people were killed when a large fire broke out after a Russian drone struck a “civilian facility,” adding that the victims were drivers for private Ukrainian postal and courier service Nova Poshta. Russia’s defense ministry said it attacked a “storage and launch site” for Ukrainian drones in the Sumy region. In Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine, a Russian drone attack late Friday hit a shopping centre, causing a fire that spread over a 500-square-metre area and injuring several people, regional head Ivan Fedorov said. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his evening address on Friday that intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was preparing missiles for a large attack, saying there were indications that this could happen in the next 48 hours. Ukraine keeps targeting oil facilities A Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire in the grounds of the Tyumen Oil Refinery, in western Siberia, Tyumen regional Gov. Aleksandr Moor said on Saturday. Writing on X Saturday, Zelenskyy confirmed the hit on the Tyumen plant, along with a logistics facility in Yekaterinburg and a fuel and lubricants warehouse in Rostov-on-Don. Ukraine’s long-range drone technology has evolved during the war, posing a problem for Russia, whose huge land mass is hard to protect fully. Kyiv’s forces have targeted Russian oil facilities, causing fuel shortages and embarrassing President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Washington U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy plan to meet on Tuesday in Washington, a White House official said on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Trump’s schedule before it is announced. Kyiv did not immediately comment on the meeting, although Zelenskyy said in his Friday address that Kyiv was “preparing for a meeting with the President of the United States and his team.” A memorial service in Washington for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters, is slated for Tuesday. Romania shoots down second drone in 2 days Romania’s defence ministry said on Saturday its forces had “safely shot down” a drone that breached its airspace in an “unpopulated area” near the Ukrainian border. The drone was “shot down by a Romanian pilot from an F-16 aircraft,” President Nicușor Dan said in a post on Facebook. Saturday’s interception came after a drone was shot down around Padina, northeast of the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on Friday. A series of drone incursions by Russia and Ukraine have hit Romania and other NATO members since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In June, a Ukrainian maritime drone exploded at the Black Sea port of Constanta, while three other sea drones exploded outside the port. No one was hurt. A Russian drone that was part of an attack on Ukraine in May went astray and struck an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people. The Associated Press
