2 killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as prospects for talks remain uncertain

KYIV Ukraine AP Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine on Saturday killed at least two people including a -year-old girl authorities noted as uncertainty remains about whether Kyiv diplomats will attend a new round of peace talks proposed by Moscow for early next week in Istanbul Russian troops launched a few drones and five missiles across Ukraine overnight and into Saturday the Ukrainian air force mentioned Three of the missiles and drones were destroyed and another drones failed to reach their targets without causing damage it explained The girl was killed in a strike on the front-line village of Dolynka in the Zaporizhzhia region and a -year-old was injured Zaporizhzhia s Gov Ivan Fedorov declared One house was destroyed The shockwave from the blast also damaged several other houses cars and outbuildings Fedorov wrote on Telegram A man was killed by Russian shelling in Ukraine s Kherson region Gov Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram Moscow did not comment on either attack Russia s Ministry of Defense noted Saturday that it had gained control of the Ukrainian village of Novopil in the Donetsk region and took the village of Vodolahy in the northern Sumy region Ukrainian government in Sumy ordered mandatory evacuations in more settlements as Russian forces make steady gains in the area The new additions bring the total number of settlements under evacuation orders in Sumy which borders Russia s Kursk region to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated selected Russian troops have amassed in the area with the intention of launching an offensive to carve out a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory Speaking Saturday Ukraine s top army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi announced that Russian forces were focusing their main offensive efforts on Pokrovsk Toretsk and Lyman in the Donetsk region as well as the Sumy dividing line area Syrskyi also noted Ukrainian forces are still holding territory in Russia s Kursk region a message that Moscow has repeatedly denied Russia revealed on April that it had pushed all Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region after Ukrainian troops seized land there during a surprise incursion in August The enemy is holding its best units here Syrskyi commented referring to Kursk which it planned to use in the east Elsewhere people were injured including four children after Ukrainian drones struck apartment buildings Saturday in the Russian town of Rylsk and the village of Artakovo in the western Kursk region local acting Gov Alexander Khinshtein mentioned Peace talk uncertainty Andrii Yermak a top adviser to Zelenskyy declared Friday that Kyiv was ready to resume direct peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Monday but that the Kremlin should first provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the more than three-year war Zelenskyy reported Friday that Russia was undermining diplomacy by withholding the document Related Articles Russia seizes Ukrainian limit villages as its bombing campaign slows Letters San Jose s homeless law is cruel and unnecessary With little progress after phone calls and talks Ukraine s allies hit Russia with new sanctions Biden calls Trump s pressure on Ukraine modern-day appeasement in st post-presidential interview Letters County must find alternatives to office of instruction layoffs For several reason the Russians are concealing this document This is an absolutely bizarre position There is no clarity about the format Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram Moscow previously noted it would share its memorandum during the talks Follow AP s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https apnews com hub russia-ukraine