Two killed in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia

Two people have been killed in Ukrainian drone strikes in Russian border regions, local officials have said, ahead of peace talks to end the nearly four-year war in Paris this week.

Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said one person died and two others, including a young child, were injured when a drone hit a car on Sunday.

Another person was killed in a drone strike on a village in the Kursk region, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

In Ukraine, three people were injured in the Kharkiv region in drone strikes overnight into Sunday, officials said.

Meanwhile, the death toll from a Russian missile attack on the city of Kharkiv on Friday has increased to five after two other bodies were found under the rubble of a building, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

The latest attacks came after national security advisers from Europe and other allies visited Kyiv on Saturday to discuss security guarantees and economic support, as a US-led diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine intensifies.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, preparing to travel to Paris for a meeting with partners, said on Saturday that work on the peace proposals could now accelerate as Ukraine has shared all documents under discussion with the 18 national security advisers, including those on security guarantees.

He said representatives from Ukraine’s General Staff and military sector will meet on Monday in Paris, followed by a meeting on Tuesday of European leaders, where he said he hopes documents on security guarantees will be finalised. He said there will also be meetings with US representatives in Paris.