At least nine people have been killed in a Russian drone strike on a passenger bus in north-eastern Ukraine's Sumy region, BBC reported quoting local officials. Emergency services personnel and police are have been deployed to control the situation.
As per reports, the Sumy regional military administration said four other people were injured in the town of Bilopillia on Saturday morning as the bus travelled to the regional capital Sumy, which is close to Russia's border.
Quoting Ukraine's national police, BBC reported that the attack has been described as a "cynical war crime". Citing preliminary information, Sumy regional head Oleh Hryhorov reportedly said the bus was hit by a Russian Lancet drone at 06:17 local time on Saturday (03:17 GMT).
Russia The reported attack came just hours after Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks since 2022 on Friday. However, the ceasefire talks between the two countries took a hit after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin rejected the offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet in person in Turkey.
Zelenskyy said that the Russian delegation did not include “anyone who actually makes decisions”, AP reported. "We can't be running around the world looking for Putin," Zelenskyy said after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, as per Reuters.
The Friday talks did not lead to any breakthrough as Ukraine and Russia remain far apart on how to end the war. However, it was agreed that each side would return 1,000 prisoners of war to the other in the coming days.
