Russian Drone Strike Kills 9 in Ukraine’s Bilopillia After Peace Talks Falter

A Russian drone strike obliterated a passenger bus in Ukraine’s Sumy region on Saturday, claiming nine lives and leaving four others wounded, according to local authorities. The attack, which targeted civilians evacuating the border city of Bilopillia, unfolded mere hours after Russian and Ukrainian officials met for their first direct peace talks in years—talks that collapsed without a ceasefire.

‘Black Saturday,’ as Bilopillia’s community chief Yurii Zarko dubbed it, saw a deliberate strike on a bus carrying mostly elderly women. Ukraine’s national police shared harrowing images of the wreckage, underscoring the brutality of the assault just six miles from the Russian border. This is another war crime by Russia—a deliberate strike on civilian transport that posed no threat, the Sumy regional administration declared on Telegram. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoed this, condemning the attack as a deliberate killing of civilians.

The injured were rushed to a hospital in Sumy, with three in critical condition. A mourning period grips Bilopillia through Monday as authorities work to identify the victims. Meanwhile, Russia’s defense ministry claimed it targeted a military site 31 miles southeast of Bilopillia, sidestepping any mention of the bus attack.

The strike’s timing raises questions about its impact on fragile peace efforts. On Friday, Russia and Ukraine met in Turkey, attempting to broker a temporary truce. The talks, the first face-to-face since the war’s early days, lasted under two hours and yielded no ceasefire. Yet, both sides agreed to a historic exchange of 1,000 prisoners each and discussed detailed ceasefire proposals. Ukraine pushes for a truce as a step toward peace, backed by Western allies, while Russia resists, leaving the conflict’s end elusive.

Zelenskyy, fresh from meetings with European leaders in Albania, called for tough sanctions against Moscow if it rejects a ceasefire. Posting on X, he stressed, Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war. The international community watches closely as the war’s toll mounts, with this latest tragedy exposing the steep road to peace.