Russia is launching the largest wave of strikes on Ukraine for weeks

Russia launched 574 drones and 40 missiles on Ukraine in one of the heaviest bombings of a few weeks, according to Ukrainian officials.

One person was killed in a drone and a missile strike in the western city of Lviv, and 15 people were injured in an attack against the southwest region of transcarpathy.

The attacks occurred while US President Donald Trump is heading to diplomatic movements to arrest war, and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that strikes stressed why the efforts to end it were “so critical”.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine was ready to meet Vladimir Putin of Russia “in neutral” – in Switzerland or Austria – and he is not against Istanbul either.

Zelensky declared his desire to meet Putin in “any format”, although he has poured cold water on the idea of ​​meeting him in Budapest, who, according to him, “is not easy today”.

The prospect of direct talks emerged after Trump met Putin in Alaska, then welcomed the leaders of Zelensky and Europeans in the White House on Monday.

The American president initially suggested trilateral talks involving him, Putin and Zelensky, but has since suggested that he might not participate: “Now, I think it would be better if they met without me … If necessary, I will go.”

Ukraine’s Air Force had 614 drones and other missiles pulled by Russia on Thursday and said that it had stopped 577. It was the largest air attack since July.

While Russian strikes tend to focus on eastern regions close to front lines, the latest attacks also hit Western areas. The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles were among the weapons used.

The Ukrainian Air Force said that many attacks came from western Russia, as well as the Black Sea and a Crimea missile occupied by Russia.

In Lviv, where a person was killed, three others were injured in attacks that damaged more than 20 civil buildings, including residential houses and a nursery.

15 other people were injured when cruise missiles hit an American electronics in the far southwest Mukachevo in Transcarpathia, not far from the borders of Ukraine with Hungary and Slovakia.

“One of the missiles struck a large American manufacturer in electronics in our west region, resulting in serious damage and victims,” ​​Sybiha wrote on social networks on Thursday. The factory produces coffee machines and other household items, say the managers.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Zelensky said that there was still no Moscow signal that they “really intended to engage in substantial negotiations” to end the war.

He also clearly indicated his lack of enthusiasm for Budapest as a host for potential talks Thursday, citing solid links by Prime Minister Viktor Orban with Moscow: “I am not saying that Orban’s policy was against Ukraine, but it was against the support of Ukraine.”

The idea of ​​the Hungarian capital as a potential place for peace talks has emerged in recent days and that the Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijarto said Budapest was ready to provide “fair and safe conditions”.

The Ukrainian leader also said that Russian forces were massaging on the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region – one of the four regions of Ukraine that Russia now claims as his.

“We can see that they continue to transfer part of their troops from the management of Kursk to Zaporizhzhia.”