Ukrainian Drone Attack on Novorossiysk Kills Four, While Russian Strikes Hit Ukraine

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk overnight killed at least four people, including a child, Russian officials said Wednesday.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region in southern Russia, said 29 others were injured in the drone attack.

Ukraine has frequently targeted Novorossiysk, a port city that is a major outlet for Russian oil and grain exports.

Earlier on Wednesday, the mayor of the city, Andrei Kravchenko, had said the debris from a Ukrainian drone fell onto several businesses and nearly landed on a residential building, sparking fires.

In the nearby town of Anapa, falling drone debris damaged three homes and a kindergarten, Kondratyev said, adding that there were no casualties.

Russia's Defense Ministry said nearly 600 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight.

Two civilians killed in Russian attack on border crossing

Russian drone strikes overnight on a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova, meanwhile, killed at least two civilians, the regional governor Oleh Kiper said on social media.

Three people were wounded in the strike on the Starokozace border crossing, around 500 kilometres (310 miles) south of Kyiv, Ukraine's State Border Guard Service said.

The strikes forced the checkpoint to close temporarily, Kiper said, adding that multiple fires broke out as a result of the attack.

Ukrainian emergency officials also said the capital, Kyiv was attacked overnight. While some fires were started, there were no casualties.

What is the latest in US-brokered peace talks?

Russia on Tuesday resumed its near-daily airstrikes on Kyiv after a brief pause while US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow for talks.

At least five people were killed in Kyiv on Tuesday, officials said.

Russia also said President Vladimir Putin had had an "extremely frank" phone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump on Tuesday, as Washington continues to press Ukrainian and Russian officials to hold face-to-face talks to end the war.

Ukraine has suggested talks that could take place in September, but Russian officials have said it is "too early" to discuss specifics such as a venue or dates for the talks.

Despite US pressure, talks between Moscow and Kyiv have yielded no results beyond sporadic prisoner swaps.