Nine registered in a Russian civilian bus in Ukraine

Local officials died in a Russian attack on a civilian minibus in northeast Ukraine.

Regional military leaders said seven more people were injured in Bilije’s attack on Saturday morning, Sumi, when the minibus traveled to the regional capital, near the Russian border.

The report came a few hours after Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks since 2022. No breakthrough was reached, although a prisoner of war was agreed.

The President of Ukraine Volodymr Zelensky said the attack was a “intentional killing of civilians”. Russia did not comment directly, but the state media reported that the forces were in the “military production area” in Sami.

Zelensky added that the Russian troops “cannot help but understand what vehicle they beat.”

Referring to the preliminary information, the head of the regional regional Alekhov said that the bus was shot down by a Russian drone at 6:17 local time on Saturday (03:17 GMT). He described the attack as “inhuman.”

Negotiations on Friday in Istanbul, Turkey, did not lead to a breakthrough, because Ukraine and Russia remain far apart how to end the war.

However, an agreement was reached that each side will return 1000 prisoners of war in the coming days.

Zelensky said about the negotiations that “like any day of this war, it was possible to stop the fire. Ukraine offers it a long time ago.”

After Istanbul discussions, Ukraine confirmed its call for a complete and unconditional ceasefire, but the transaction with Russia remained elusive.

Ukraine stated that the next step in the process will be direct negotiations between the President of Ukrainian Volodimir Zelensky and Russia Vladimir Putin.

Russia said it “appealed” the request.

The US claims that the progress of stopping the war will only be made if President Donald Trump and Putin have negotiated face.

During his visit to the Middle East, Trump told reporters at the Air Force “Nothing will happen until Putin and I come together.”

“He was not going when I wasn’t there, and I do not believe that what would happen, or not, or not until we are going to it,” Trump added.

In February 2022, Russia launched a full -scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine used Sumi in August to launch the consequences in the Russian region of Kursk. Earlier this year, Russia returned the majority of Ukraine’s troops and strengthened the border artillery and air attacks in recent months.

Earlier this week, before the negotiations with Ukraine, Russia carried blows across the region, killed by three people and injuring nine others, reports the SUMY regional military administration.

On Saturday, Ukrainian drones reportedly struck ammunition in Crimea, a region illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

According to Reuters, the strike of Ukraine caused detonation of warehouses, where military equipment, weapons and fuel were maintained.