Pregnant woman among three killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine

KYIV: Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least three people, including a pregnant woman, Kyiv said Tuesday, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks with allies in London.

Ukraine said Russia was increasing its attacks on civilians as it was “unable” to achieve Kremlin-set aims in a fifth year of Moscow’s invasion.

“At least three people were killed, including a pregnant 22-year-old woman, in Chuguiv,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said, referring to a city in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Emergency services published images of a blaze engulfing residential buildings and parked Chuguiv Mayor Galyna Minaeiva said the city — southwest of the regional capital Kharkiv — was hit by missiles and Iranian-made Shahed drones.

Russian progress on the sprawling front line has halted this year — despite Moscow recruiting up to 30,000 new fighters every month.

Both sides have escalated long-range drone strikes.

“Being unable to achieve its goals on the battlefield, Russia increases terror against civilians,” Sybiga said.

“We urge the world to ramp up pressure on the Russian regime and further increase the cost of this terror for the aggressor.”Meeting in London over the weekend, Britain’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz said they supported Kyiv’s proposal for “direct dialogue”.

Zelensky told British media he had met with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in Kyiv, passing on a message to Putin that “we will not give you our territory”.

The Russian leader has insisted Moscow intends to capture the whole of eastern Ukraine by force, however long it takes.