Ukraine fired nearly 1,200 long-range drones at Russian targets overnight in one of its largest aerial barrages since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion nearly five years ago. Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 1,198 Ukrainian drones between late Thursday and early Friday. Strikes across three Russian regions killed seven people, including a 12-year-old, and wounded 17, local officials reported.
Russian forces launched 117 drones against Ukraine overnight, killing at least two people, including a 17-year-old, Ukrainian authorities reported. In southern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, a single Russian strike on Friday injured 13 people, including five children, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service. Rescue crews freed 14 residents trapped inside damaged apartments after blasts scarred the facades of two five-story residential buildings.
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday following two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi. The American envoys also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Dublin Airport, where European Union leaders gathered for talks. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned Friday in Dublin that Europe must insist on an immediate ceasefire before expanding talks to continental security. Kallas stated: "If we start to talk about what Russia is asking regarding the security architecture, we actually walk into the traps that Russia is setting us." Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden added: "We cannot let neither the Americans nor the Russians decide about our future."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia remains open to European contacts once Moscow clarifies Europe's intentions. Peskov stated: "Once we understand Europe's true intentions and their readiness to facilitate the peace process, then it will be possible to make a decision on holding a dialogue regarding a settlement in Ukraine in an expanded format."
