A Russian drone hit a bus, killing nine people and injuring four more in the region of Sumy, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, in an attack that took place hours after Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct peace talks in years.
"This is not just another shelling — it is a cynical war crime," Ukraine's National Police said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ihor Tkachenko, head of Sumy's military administration, said on Telegram that a rescue operation was under way.
The meeting of Russian and Ukrainian officials in Turkey on Friday failed to broker a temporary ceasefire. It was the first direct dialog between the two sides since the early months of the war that Russia launched in February 2022.
Ukraine's police posted photos of a dark blue passenger van nearly destroyed, with the roof torn off and the windows blown out.