Peace talks ended in Abu Dhabi. Then the missiles started flying again.
Russian attacks damaged energy and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine's north-western Rivne region on Thursday, a day after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators wrapped up two days of peace talks in the Emirati capital. The timing is not subtle.
Oleksandr Koval, head of the Rivne Regional Military Administration, said on Telegram that more than 160 settlements remained without electricity as of 8:30 a.m. "This is a consequence of the enemy's overnight strikes," he wrote.
In an earlier message, Koval said outages were reported across the Rivne and Sarny districts. Kostopil was without power, he said, and critical infrastructure switched to generators.
Russia Says It Hit Defense Plants, Power Substations
Russia's Defence Ministry said in a Telegram statement Thursday that its forces carried out "a massive strike with ground-launched high-precision weapons and drones" on Ukrainian defense and power facilities in Kyiv and the Kyiv region.
The ministry said targets included a Kyiv plant that produces Hornet medium-range drones and a drone assembly site in Brovary. It also named plants in Kuzmintsy and Yagotin that make solid-fuel components for tactical missiles and drone boosters. In other words, the target list reads like a map of Ukraine's drone supply chain.
Kyiv Apartment Block Struck
On Telegram, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a Russian drone hit a nine-storey building in the Solomyanskyi district. He said one woman was killed and five were injured.
A Reuters witness said explosions were heard in the capital.
Prisoner Swap Agreed, Land Unresolved
The Abu Dhabi talks were the first between the two sides in nine months. Negotiators agreed in principle to a prisoner exchange, with numbers to be set Thursday. That is progress, of a narrow kind.
US envoy Jared Kushner said Wednesday that territory remains the main obstacle. "Post-war security will not occur until there's an agreement on territory and on all other bilateral issues," he said.
Kushner called the meeting "tough" but "productive." He said Ukrainian negotiators "fought very, very hard for their issues."
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said a Russia-Ukraine peace deal is very close and blamed the hatred between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for delays. He also said, "I believe we're very close to making a deal."
Close, perhaps. But overnight in Rivne, the lights are still out.
