KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine exchanged airstrikes overnight as talks were set to resume in Brussels on Thursday on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and security guarantees once the fighting ends.
asserted
fighting → exchange → reconstruction
The latest Russian aerial barrage underscored the scale of the rebuilding task, as did the ongoing search for people missing beneath rubble after a deadly airstrike in southern Ukraine on Monday.
asserted
search → underscore → Monday
Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at Russian targets.
asserted
Ukraine → launch → targets
The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces shot down nearly 500 drones overnight.
asserted
forces → say → drones
A Ukrainian attack killed five people and wounded 13 others on Thursday in Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Luhansk region, Kremlin-installed officials said.
asserted
officials → kill → region
The strike hit a bus traveling between the regional capital, Luhansk, and a nearby town, said Leonid Pasechnik, the region’s Moscow-backed leader.
asserted
Pasechnik → hit → capital
Two teenagers were among the wounded, he said.
asserted
he → wound → wounded
Meanwhile, rescue teams continued to search for more than 30 people believed trapped in the wreckage of a former school and a nearby shelter hit by Russian guided bombs on Monday.
asserted
teams → continue → Monday
The attack in Komyshuvakha, near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, struck as residents waited for humanitarian aid.
asserted
residents → strike → aid
It was one of the deadliest strikes in the region since the full-scale invasion began nearly five years ago.
asserted
invasion → begin → region
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 43 people have been confirmed killed.
asserted
people → say → ?
Efforts to identify some of the victims using DNA samples from relatives were continuing.
asserted
Efforts → identify → relatives
Zelenskyy said in a message on X that one person who had been reported missing was found alive.
asserted
who → say → X
Postwar reconstruction talks resume
asserted
talks → resume → ?
Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said that talks will continue for a second day at NATO headquarters in Brussels focused on postwar reconstruction, funding for 2027 and security guarantees backed by the Ukrainian government’s Western allies.
asserted
talks → say → allies
Umerov said that the discussions with officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union and NATO were also being attended by the World Bank and the U.S. investment group BlackRock.
asserted
discussions → say → Bank
“We separately discussed the threats from Russia to Ukraine and all of Europe, as well as joint steps to counter them,” Umerov wrote in an online post.
asserted
Umerov → discuss → post
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that representatives from the countries and organizations would meet again “to discuss the way forward on bringing about a just and sustainable end to the war in Ukraine.”
asserted
representatives → say → Ukraine
The Brussels meetings are taking place days before negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States are due to meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for talks aimed at trying to end the war.
asserted
negotiators → take → war
Late Wednesday, Zelenskyy said that he had held a 90-minute conversation with U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
asserted
he → say → negotiators
“The negotiations must move forward at full throttle to bring this war to an end as quickly as possible,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X. “Ukraine is ready to take the necessary steps.
asserted
Ukraine → move → steps
Our proposals are clear, and we have given them to the American side.”
asserted
we → give → side
Kushner posted on X that talks are focused not only on “ending this terrible war, but on the broader security architecture needed to ensure that when the fighting stops, it never starts again.”
asserted
it → post → architecture
He paid tribute to Zelenskyy and his team’s “constructive engagement and commitment to finding a path forward.”
asserted
He → pay → path
In excerpts from an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, to be aired in full on Friday, Zelenskyy expressed hope that the Democratic Party’s win in the U.S. midterm elections could usher in a new era of support for Ukraine.
uncertain
win → air → Ukraine
I am also grateful to the Republicans,” Zelenskyy said.
asserted
Zelenskyy → say → Republicans
He added that the Democrats “speak of renewing the ties between the U.S. and Europe, which have been somewhat lost in recent years.
asserted
which → add → years
Russian airstrikes wound 4 in Ukraine
Ukraine’s air defenses shot down or suppressed 105 of 128 Russian attack drones overnight and into early Thursday, while Russian strikes wounded four people in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv regions, Ukrainian officials said.
asserted
officials → wind → regions
Russian drones struck six areas in the Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding three people in the city of Dnipro.
asserted
drones → strike → Dnipro
Infrastructure, residential homes and garages were damaged, regional administrator Oleksandr Hanzha said.
asserted
Hanzha → damage → ?
A Russian attack on logistics infrastructure west of the capital, Kyiv, caused a fire and wounded a man, the State Emergency Service said.
asserted
Service → cause → man
Video showed firefighters working to extinguish a blaze in the wreckage of twisted metal frames and shattered panels of a warehouse.
asserted
firefighters → show → warehouse
Ukraine targets Russia, with a blaze reported at an oil refinery
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its forces shot down 496 Ukrainian drones over 13 Russian regions overnight, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia, and the Black and Azov Seas.
More than 200 Ukrainian drones targeted Russia’s Ryazan region southeast of Moscow, wounding one person, local governor Pavel Malkov said.
asserted
Malkov → target → person
Malkov said that falling debris from the attack damaged power lines and sparked a fire at an industrial site.
asserted
debris → say → site
Russian media outlets later reported a blaze at Ryazan oil refinery, sharing pictures of plumes of smoke and the night sky glowing red.
asserted
outlets → report → red
A warehouse for Russian retail company Wildberries was also damaged, media outlets reported.
asserted
outlets → damage → Wildberries
The company hasn’t yet commented on the attack.
asserted
company → comment → attack
_
Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.
asserted
Corder → contribute → report
The Aporia
