A Russian missile strike kills a child and injures another, a Ukrainian official says

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian missile hit a front-line region in Ukraine on Saturday, killing a child and injuring another, a Ukrainian official said as uncertainty remains as to whether Kyiv diplomats will attend a new round of peace talks proposed by Moscow for early next week in Istanbul.

Russian troops launched some 109 drones and five missiles across Ukraine overnight and into Saturday, the Ukrainian air force said. Three of the missiles and 42 drones were destroyed by air defenses, while another 30 drones failed to reach their targets without causing damage, it said.

A 9-old girl was killed in a strike on the front-line village of Dolynka in the Zaporizhzhia region, and a 16-year-old was injured, Zaporizhzhia’s Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.

“One house was destroyed. The shockwave from the blast also damaged several other houses, cars, and outbuildings,” Fedorov wrote on Telegram.

Moscow did not comment on the latest attack.

Meanwhile, 14 people were injured after Ukrainian drones struck apartment buildings on Saturday in the Russian town of Rylsk and the village of Artakovo in the western Kursk region, local acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said.

Four children were among those injured in the two attacks, which also sparked several fires, he said.

On Friday, Andrii Yermak, a top adviser to Ukraine’s president said Kyiv was ready to resume direct peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Monday but that the Kremlin should provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the more than three-year war, before the two delegations sit down to negotiate.

Speaking late Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia was “undermining diplomacy” by withholding the document.

“For some reason, the Russians are concealing this document. This is an absolutely bizarre position. There is no clarity about the format,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

Moscow previously said it would share its memorandum during the talks.

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