Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukrainian delegation in US for peace talks as Kyiv hit with deadly drone strike again

Vladimir Putin’s “whole economy, his whole society, his whole politics, his whole preservation of self revolves around having this war go on”, Fiona Hill, who was Donald Trump’s adviser on Russia in his first presidential term, has told The Independent in an exclusive interview.

Ukraine deployed naval drones to hit Russian oil tankers off Turkey’s Black Sea coast on Friday afternoon, a Ukrainian security services official said.

The vessels have been identified as the Kairos and Virat, which are thought to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to curb international sanctions.

Both vessels were under sanctions, with the US sanctioning the Virat in January this year, followed by the EU, Switzerland, the UK and Canada.

The EU also sanctioned the Kairos in July, followed by the UK and Switzerland.

According to the OpenSanctions database, which tracks people or organisations involved in sanctions evasion, “the shadow tanker fleet continues to provide multibillion-dollar revenues for the Kremlin bypassing sanctions, disguising its activities under the flags of third countries, using complex schemes to conceal owners and poses significant environmental threats.”

At least one person has been killed and another 19 wounded after Russia launched fresh overnight attacks on the Kyiv region, striking a nine-story apartment block in the city of Vyshhorod.

It’s the second night in a row that Russia has struck the capital, after three were killed and dozens were injured in an attack throughout the night and into Saturday.

The attacks come ahead of Sunday’s meeting, in which US secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are set to meet Ukrainian officials in Florida.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday, Macron’s office said, as the Ukrainian leader finds himself in the most difficult political and military situation since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

The two leaders will discuss “the conditions of a just and durable peace”, following talks in Geneva and the American peace plan, the Elysee Palace said in a statement on Saturday. Zelensky was last in Paris on 17 November.

Moldovan authorities said on Saturday that Russian drones had entered the country’s airspace, posing a threat to aviation, in the third such incident in nine days.

President Maia Sandu, who wants to bring Moldova into the European Union by 2030, has denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine and accused Moscow of attempting to destabilise the ex-Soviet state, which lies between Ukraine and EU member Romania.

Moldova’s interior ministry said it had identified two drones as Russian and that they had flown over Moldovan territory, prompting the closure of its airspace.

They later flew into Ukrainian territory, it added.

“In the course of this incident, which posed a serious threat to flight safety, Moldova’s airspace was closed for an hour and 10 minutes from 22.43 to 23.53 (2043 to 2153 GMT) on the orders of the civil aviation authority,” it said.

The vessels, identified as the Kairos and Virat, are believed to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to circumvent international sanctions.

The strikes occurred in quick succession off Turkey’s Black Sea coast late Friday afternoon. Following the incidents, the Turkish coast guard initiated rescue operations, with reports indicating that all crew members on both tankers were safe.

Kazakhstan sharply criticised Ukraine on Sunday after a drone strike damaged a key Black Sea terminal belonging to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which transports more than 1 per cent of the world’s oil.

The CPC announced on Saturday that it had suspended operations after a mooring at its Novorossiysk terminal suffered significant damage in what it described as a Ukrainian naval drone attack.

Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry lodged a formal protest, denouncing “yet another deliberate attack on the critical infrastructure of the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the waters of the Port of Novorossiysk”.

“This incident marks the third act of aggression against an exclusively civilian facility whose operation is protected under international law,” the ministry said.

Mstyslav Chernov, the Academy Award-winning director of 20 Days in Mariupol, gave The Independent an insight into morale on the frontline after the limited release of his latest documentary, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, put him straight on the battlefield with Ukraine’s armed forces.

It comes as Ukrainian officials continue to negotiate peace terms after the US president Donald Trump put forward a deal to end the war which critics have described as being pro-Russian.

Fiona Hill, a national security adviser during Mr Trump’s first administration and an expert on Russia, regularly witnessed meetings between the two men.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent’s podcast World of Trouble, she reveals how Putin has “got Trump’s number” and feels able to mock the US president to his face, relying on the language barrier to cover his teasing.