By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
TIRANA/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukrainian authorities announced Saturday that nine people have been killed in a Russian drone attack on a minibus that Kyiv said was evacuating civilians. The latest attack overshadowed talks in Turkey on ending the more than three-year Russia-Ukraine war.
Rescue workers struggled near a minibus after a Russian drone apparently hit it. Local authorities said that most of those killed were elderly women being evacuated from Bilopillya, a town in the Sumy region that has come under repeated Russian attack.
The strike on the bus on Saturday morning, with at least one Lancet drone, also injured four other passengers, according to officials.
It came just hours after the first direct peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022, underscoring the difficulties of reaching a permanent peace settlement.
The two sides agreed on a prisoner-of-war exchange of 1,000 people each in the coming days.
However, the Ukrainian delegation insisted on direct talks between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia to reach a permanent peace deal.
That’s why the talks broke up inconclusively after just two hours.
PUTIN AWAY
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who traveled to Turkey for the peace talks, was expected to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
However, Putin decided to stay away. This meant that Zelenskyy moved on to Albania’s capital, Tirana, for a meeting with European leaders.
In Tirana, Zelenskyy expressed doubts about Russia’s willingness to seek peace. “I was ready for a direct meeting with Putin, whether in Ankara or in Istanbul, and not just for a meeting, but to resolve all the important issues to my mind,” he said.
“But he didn’t agree to anything. I mean, Putin, and you can also see that the Russian delegation that came to Istanbul is of a very low level. None of them are people who actually make decisions in Russia,” President Zelenskyy added.
More than a million people are believed to have been killed and injured since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has made clear that a final peace settlement can only be reached if it can hold on to its captured territories, Ukraine won’t join the NATO military alliance, and western troops will not be present on Ukrainian territory.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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