Casualties and massive destruction in violent Russian bombing targeting areas in eastern Ukraine

At least 12 people were killed and dozens wounded in Russian strikes on eastern Ukraine overnight Friday, following intense missile and drone attacks on energy facilities and days before US and Ukrainian delegations are due to hold talks in Saudi Arabia to try to broker a truce in the war between Kiev and Moscow.

US President Donald Trump warned on Friday that he would impose new sanctions on Russia if it continued to bomb Ukraine and refused to make peace, as Washington began talks with Moscow to end the war that has been going on for more than three years.

However, Russian strikes targeted areas in eastern Ukraine overnight, particularly the city of Dobropolya in the Donetsk region.

“Overnight, Russians shelled the center of Dobropolje… At least 11 people were killed and 30 were wounded,” the ambulance service reported on Telegram, and eight buildings were damaged.

Also, in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, the head of the regional military administration, Oleg Sinogov, reported that a Russian-launched drone hit a civilian facility in the city of Bogodukhiv.

“Unfortunately, one person was killed and his charred body was pulled out from the rubble… Seven others were injured,” he said via Telegram.

In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it intercepted 31 drones launched by Ukraine during the night of Friday to Saturday.

A drone attack targeted the Kirishi refinery in the Leningrad region, according to the region’s governor, Alexander Drozdenko.

“Air defense forces shot down a drone as it approached and destroyed another one above the facility’s grounds… The outer structure of one of the tanks was damaged by debris,” he explained.

On Friday, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine with missiles and drones targeting energy infrastructure, which prompted a sharp reaction from the US president.

“As Russia is currently bombing Ukraine on the battlefield, I am strongly considering imposing large-scale banking sanctions, sanctions and tariffs on Russia until there is a ceasefire and final peace settlement,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

But in parallel, Washington has temporarily blocked Ukraine from accessing its satellite images, a spokesman for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced on Friday.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe announced on Wednesday that the United States had ceased intelligence sharing with Kiev.

For the Ukrainian military, US intelligence support is as important as the military equipment its supplying to counter the Russian offensive.

The suspension of intelligence support to Ukraine comes after the Trump administration suspended the delivery of US military aid to Kyiv following the US president’s clash with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

Amid the radical shift in US policy towards Ukraine, Trump said he finds it easier to deal with Russia in efforts to find a settlement to the conflict, expressing confidence that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin wants to end the war.

“I believe him,” he said… “Frankly, I find it more difficult to deal with Ukraine, and they don’t have the cards… Dealing with Russia might be easier”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed after a call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Sibiga, that Trump is determined to end the war as soon as possible, and stresses the need for all parties to take steps to ensure a sustainable peace,” according to a spokeswoman for his department on Friday.

For his part, Sibiga stressed that his country wants the war to end, and the leadership of the United States is essential to achieving lasting peace.

Amid the current tension in relations with the United States, Zelensky reiterated his call for a truce in the air and at sea, and saw the Russian strikes on Friday as further evidence of Moscow’s unwillingness to pursue a path of peace.

Zelensky is visiting Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, ahead of a meeting scheduled to be held next week in Jeddah between an American delegation and a Ukrainian one.

“The meeting aims to determine a framework for a peace agreement and a ceasefire,” according to US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

In the face of the US halting support for Ukraine, the leaders of the 27 European Union countries who met in Brussels on Thursday for an extraordinary summit on Ukraine gave the green light to a plan to rearm Europe that calls for allocating about 800 billion euros and stressing the need to significantly increase defense spending.

“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday hailed the EU’s progress on defense and Ukraine, calling it a historic step forward,” according to his spokeswoman.