Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine killed 78 people and injured 215 over two days, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday.
The deadliest attacks included a strike on two buses in Kramatorsk on Thursday, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18 others, according to Ukrainian officials and France 24 . A day earlier, a Russian missile hit a five-story apartment building in Pryluky, killing 22 people, including five children .
Speaking in Pryluky, Zelenskyy criticized the U.S. for pursuing economic ties with Moscow while mediating the war, now in its fifth year. He urged Washington to expand Ukraine’s access to Starlink satellite service to help target Russian missile launchers. “Open Starlink for Ukraine. You did open it when you were responding to Iran ... I’ve said quite openly – give it to us, help us defend our skies and dominate there,” he said .
Zelenskyy also rejected U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertion that the war was at a “stalemate,” calling it “unwillingness” to act. “One cannot, on the one hand, negotiate with the Russians about future economic projects, whilst on the other hand say that we find ourselves in some sort of ... diplomatic stalemate,” he said .
Ukrainian negotiators are set to meet U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami on Friday and Saturday to discuss proposals for ending the war, Zelenskyy confirmed .
