Russia and Ukraine sharply ramped up their war one day
before proposed peace talks were to take place. Several
people were killed after two bridges were blown up in
Russian regions bordering Ukraine, Russian officials said on Sunday
, though no one has claimed responsibility yet. One
was a road bridge in the Bryansk region. It
collapsed as a train carrying 388 people was passing underneath
, derailing the train and crushing some carriages. Separately
, videos obtained by Reuters were said to show recordings
of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian airfields in the northern
Murmansk region and Siberia in the first such attack so
far from the front lines. Reuters was able to
verify the locations of the recordings, but not the
dates. A Ukrainian intelligence official said some 40 Russian
warplanes were struck in attacks on several bases. Russia's
Defense Ministry said several military aircraft were hit. Meanwhile
, Russia launched more than 470 drones at Ukraine overnight
, the Ukrainian Air Force said, the highest nightly
total of the war so far. The southeastern city
of Zaporia was among the areas hit, and the
commander of Ukraine's land forces resigned on Sunday after a
lethal Russian missile strike on a military training facility.
The attacks. On the eve of a second round
of direct talks in Turkey proposed by Russia, Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Sunday his country's delegation will
be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umarov, who attended
the May 16 talks. It follows days of uncertainty
over whether or not Ukraine would even show up.
In a social media post, Zelensky outlined. Ukraine's
positions for the negotiations. It includes a complete and
unconditional ceasefire, the release of prisoners, the return
of abducted children, as well as preparations for a
meeting at the highest level. According to a document
seen by Reuters, the Ukrainians will present a proposed
road map to end the war that details these conditions
during Monday's talks with Russia.