Heavy Russian shelling of eastern Ukraine as Russia downed Ukrainian drones while Kyiv reports progress in negotiations with Washington on a mining agreement
Three people were killed and at least 28 others, including four children, were injured in Russian airstrikes that hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro overnight, emergency services said.
Sources reported that several homes and official buildings were hit in the shelling.
The city’s mayor, Boris Filatov, said that 15 buildings were damaged in the shelling.
On April 10, a Russian ballistic missile strike killed one person and injured eight others in this city, which is crossed by the Dnieper River.
Ukrainian cities are subjected to almost daily Russian bombardment, despite recent US attempts to persuade Moscow and Kyiv to hold talks and end the war that has been ongoing for more than three years.
On Sunday, a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian border city of Sumy killed 35 people, sparking condemnation from the West.
On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry announced Thursday that air defense systems shot down 71 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.
This came in a statement from the Russian defense ministry, which stated that Ukraine carried out an attack on Russian territory with drones during the night hours.
The statement explained that Russian air defense systems shot down 71 drones, including 49 over Kursk, 7 over Orlov, 7 over Ryazan, 4 over Bryansk, 3 over Vladimir, and one over Tula.
Meanwhile, Kyiv announced on Wednesday that it had made significant progress in its long and fraught talks with Washington regarding a mineral resources’ agreement aimed at ensuring continued US support for Ukraine.
A framework agreement on this issue was scheduled to be signed in February, but the verbal altercation that took place at the White House between US President Donald Trump and his guest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, prevented this from happening.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko wrote on social media, “Our technical teams worked together very carefully on the agreement, and there is significant progress”.
She revealed that the Ukrainian side adapted several clauses in the draft agreement and that the two parties intend to sign a memorandum of intent soon, noting that the final version of the agreement must be approved by the Ukrainian parliament.
The Minister of Economy said that the agreement would create opportunities for investment and development in Ukraine and lay the foundations for tangible economic growth for both Ukraine and the United States.
On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address on social media that negotiations with Washington were progressing well.
Zelensky explained that the goal of these negotiations is to reach an economic partnership agreement, without mentioning that it would include the exploitation of Ukrainian minerals.
The Ukrainian president stressed that the basic legal aspects have been almost completed, and if things proceed as quickly and constructively as possible, the agreement will achieve economic results for our two countries.
The US president seeks to conclude this agreement as compensation for the military and economic aid provided to Kyiv by his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Regarding the agreement, the latest versions of the agreement don’t appear to recognize US aid as a debt owed by Ukraine.
This assessment is consistent with a previous Bloomberg News report that Washington has eased its demands that Kyiv return aid provided since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Bloomberg reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said in Argentina on Monday that an agreement could be signed this week.
