‘No miracles’: Russia downplays Ukraine talks as deadly strikes continue

Russia has played down expectations of immoderate breakthrough successful upcoming talks with Ukraine successful Turkiye, arsenic Ukrainian officials said 1 kid was killed and much than 20 radical were wounded successful overnight Russian attacks.

“We don’t person immoderate crushed to anticipation for immoderate miraculous breakthroughs,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters connected Tuesday, saying this was “hardly imaginable successful the existent situation”.

“We mean to prosecute our interests, we mean to guarantee our interests and fulfil the tasks that we acceptable for ourselves from the precise beginning.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s announcement precocious connected Monday that talks would instrumentality spot generated immoderate anticipation that negotiators would present advancement connected ending the warfare that began with Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022. United States President Donald Trump has been putting much unit connected Russia to clasp talks, which person stalled arsenic Russian President Vladimir Putin stood his crushed connected his demands.

The 3rd circular of talks successful caller months is expected to beryllium held successful Istanbul connected Wednesday. Previous negotiations led to a bid of exchanges of prisoners of warfare and the bodies of fallen soldiers, but produced nary breakthrough connected a ceasefire.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced connected societal media that Rustem Umerov, the erstwhile defence curate and existent caput of the information council, volition caput Ukraine’s delegation.

He besides said Ukraine was acceptable to “secure the merchandise of our radical from captivity and instrumentality of abducted children, to halt the killings, and to hole a leaders’ meeting”, outlining imaginable topics for discussion.

Russia has not yet announced the creation of its squad for the talks. Its delegation astatine the erstwhile circular was led by a hawkish historiographer and the existent caput of the Russian Union of Writers, Vladimir Medinsky, whom Ukraine described arsenic not a existent decision-maker.

Asked connected Tuesday if helium could springiness a consciousness of however the Kremlin saw the imaginable timeframe of a imaginable bid agreement, Peskov said helium could springiness nary guidance connected timing.

“There is simply a batch of enactment to beryllium done earlier we tin speech astir the anticipation of immoderate top-level meetings,” Peskov added, a time aft Zelenskyy renewed a telephone for a gathering with Putin.

Workers inspect a tract of a drone onslaught successful Odesa successful confederate Ukraine connected July 22, 2025 [Igor Tkachenko/EPA]

Despite the upcoming talks, Russia’s violative continues, with its forces driving hard to interruption done astatine eastbound and northeastern points connected the 1,000km (620-mile) beforehand line.

Ukraine’s aerial unit said Russia had launched 426 drones and 24 missiles overnight, making it 1 of Russia’s largest aerial assaults successful months. It said it had downed oregon jammed astatine slightest 224 Russian drones and missiles, portion 203 drones disappeared from radars.

In 1 of the attacks, a 10-year-old lad was killed and 5 radical were wounded erstwhile guided glide bombs deed a residential gathering successful the eastbound Ukrainian metropolis of Kramatorsk, according to Mayor Alexander Goncharenko.

Kramatorsk is portion of a metropolitan country successful Donetsk that remains nether Ukrainian power 3 years aft the commencement of Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine.

A barrage of Russian strikes was besides reported successful the capital, Kyiv, sparking respective fires and damaging an underground aerial raid structure wherever civilians had taken refuge. There were nary contiguous reports of casualties.

Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region came nether aggregate waves of attacks, according to determination authorities. A drone deed a petrol presumption successful the municipality of Putyvl, wounding 4 people, including a five-year-old boy, the determination subject medication reported. A 2nd drone deed the aforesaid determination little than 2 hours later, wounding 7 people.

Separately, 2 almighty Russian glide bombs were dropped connected Sumy city, wounding astatine slightest 13 people, including a six-year-old boy, and damaging 5 flat buildings, 2 backstage homes and a buying centre successful the attack. The blasts shattered windows and destroyed balconies successful residential buildings, acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said.

A fewer weeks ago, Putin announced his volition to make a “buffer zone” successful the Sumy region, efficaciously by occupying the Ukrainian borderline areas.

In the confederate Ukrainian larboard metropolis of Odesa, determination were archetypal reports of drone attacks successful which astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic was wounded. Fires broke retired successful respective places successful the city, according to determination media.

Ukraine besides launched attacks, with Russia’s Ministry of Defence saying its aerial powerfulness had downed 35 Ukrainian long-range drones implicit respective regions overnight, including 3 implicit the Moscow area.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies