Deadly drone strikes in Ukraine and Russia have followed the collapse of the latest ceasefire talks in Istanbul, killing five and injuring dozens. As both sides trade blame and intensify attacks, hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the Russia-Ukraine war remain bleak.
Fresh drone strikes kill five and injure dozens amid failed Istanbul negotiations, as both sides dig in with no peace deal in sight.
Just hours after the latest round of ceasefire talks concluded in Istanbul, Russia and Ukraine exchanged a fresh wave of deadly drone attacks, further dimming hopes for any immediate resolution to the war now entering its fourth year.
In Ukraine, a strike on the eastern Kharkiv region killed three civilians when their home collapsed. Additional drone attacks in the cities of Cherkasy and Zaporizhzhia wounded several, while Odesa’s historic Pryvoz market and a central boulevard—part of a UNESCO World Heritage site—were also hit, triggering multiple fires.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported two people dead and eleven injured following a Ukrainian drone strike on the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. Another Russian strike on Kharkiv the following morning injured at least 33 people.
The escalation came in the wake of the third round of ceasefire negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegations, held Wednesday in Istanbul. According to Ukrainian officials, the meeting lasted barely an hour and yielded no breakthrough. “We did not expect a breakthrough. A breakthrough is hardly possible,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
While both parties agreed to a prisoner exchange involving 1,200 people and a return of 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers’ remains, no tangible progress was made toward ending the war.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, had stated earlier that the priority was to arrange a presidential meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin before the end of August. However, Russia dismissed the idea as “premature,” with Peskov saying Ukraine was “trying to put the cart slightly ahead of the horse.”
Notably, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Hocharenko revealed a behind-the-scenes meeting between Umerov and Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, describing their relationship as “good” despite the diplomatic deadlock.
The earlier rounds of talks in May and June had been prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently issued a 50-day deadline for peace, warning Moscow of “severe tariffs” if a deal isn’t reached. However, Moscow’s preconditions for peace—Ukraine’s neutrality, military reduction, and abandonment of NATO aspirations—remain unacceptable to Kyiv and its Western allies.
President Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s commitment to diplomacy but placed responsibility for the ongoing conflict squarely on Moscow. “It is Russia that must end this war that it started itself,” he said on social media Thursday.
As diplomacy falters and drones fly, civilians on both sides continue to pay the price.