Nine Dead as Ukraine–Russia Strikes Intensify Amid Push to Finalise Peace Deal

Deadly cross-border strikes escalated overnight as Russia unleashed missiles and drones on Kyiv, killing six people, while Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s Rostov region left three dead, officials said on Tuesday.

The surge in hostilities comes as negotiators race to finalise a revised peace proposal after US President Donald Trump initially gave Kyiv a November 27 deadline Thanksgiving Day to respond to his plan to end the war. European leaders have strongly resisted the original framework, which aligned closely with Moscow’s demands.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said four people were killed and at least three injured in the Svyatoshynsky district, while emergency responders reported two deaths in an apartment block in the Dniprovsky area.

Before dawn, Russia’s defence ministry said it destroyed 249 Ukrainian drones one of the highest numbers it has reported. In the Rostov region, acting governor Yuri Sliusar confirmed three deaths, calling the attack a source of “great grief”. Further east in Krasnodar, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev described the assault as “one of the Kyiv regime’s most sustained and massive”.

Over the weekend, Kyiv and its allies worked urgently to reshape Washington’s 28-point proposal, which initially required Ukraine to cede territory, downsize its military, and renounce plans to join NATO. Emergency talks in Geneva produced an updated version aimed at “upholding Ukraine’s sovereignty”, according to attendees. Countries backing Ukraine are expected to discuss the progress during a video conference on Tuesday.

‘Russia will not ease pressure’

“We must be cognisant that Russia will not ease its pressure on Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky warned, saying the country faced a “critical moment” that threatened either its “dignity” or its alliance with Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had welcomed the original US plan, has threatened to seize more territory if Kyiv abandons the negotiating track. Russia currently occupies roughly a fifth of Ukraine, large swathes of it devastated since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Kyiv and European leaders maintain the war is an illegal and unprovoked land grab, with tens of thousands killed.

Revised framework gains traction

Following backlash to the initial proposal, Ukrainian, US, and European officials met in Switzerland on Sunday, issuing a joint statement announcing an “updated and refined peace framework”. While the details remain undisclosed, the White House called it progress, and the statement affirmed that any agreement must “fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty”.

Kyiv’s delegation said the revised draft “already reflects most of Ukraine’s key priorities”.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, however, cautioned that reaching a deal by Trump’s deadline was unlikely, describing the talks as “lengthy” and complex.

The bypassing of Europe in the original US plan unsettled many EU governments, who feared the proposal risked ending the conflict on Moscow’s terms. The White House has rejected criticism that Trump is favouring Russia.

“The idea that the United States is not engaging both sides equally to bring this war to an end is a complete fallacy,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

A senior US official told AFP that Washington has urged Kyiv to accept the proposal. While no direct threat to cut aid was made, the official said Ukraine understood this could become a possibility.

AFP