At least two people killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine

At least two people were killed in last night’s Russian strikes on Ukraine.

The strikes were carried out just hours after Moscow rejected Germany’s calls to de-escalate toward NATO.

In Kyiv, one man was found dead after a Russian drone struck a non-residential building, according to the Ukrainian emergency service. Another drone hit a single-story vehicle repair building, and firefighters battled the blaze caused by that strike until the early morning hours today.

During the night, the Russians also struck Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, which surrounds the country’s main Black Sea port, several times. One person was killed and two were injured, said the head of the local military administration, Oleh Kiper.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov downplayed the significance of the first dialogue with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York, at a time when there are no signs of a slowdown in the intensifying air war between Ukraine and Russia.

Relations between Russia and Germany have deteriorated in recent weeks following last month’s attempted drone attack on Leipzig airport, for which Berlin blamed the Kremlin.

While front-line positions have remained largely unchanged since last year, in recent months Moscow has targeted its neighbor Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, powerful guided bombs, and drones.

At the same time, Ukrainians have used long-range drones to strike Russian refineries and companies.

After the meeting in New York, which was held at Wadephul’s request, Lavrov said that the German minister merely reiterated his official position condemning Russia.

“You can judge for yourself whether that counts as a dialogue or not,” Lavrov said.

Wadephul expressed openness to a better relationship, but said that this requires genuine willingness from the Russian leadership to end the war in Ukraine, according to a German delegation official.