KYIV — Russian strikes killed three civilians and wounded dozens across Ukraine, local officials said Saturday, after President Vladimir Putin warned that sending European troops into Ukraine would amount to direct conflict with Russia, the Associated Press reported.
Two people were killed and one wounded when drones struck a residential area overnight in Zaporizhzhia, regional head Ivan Fedorov said. One person died and three were wounded in Kryvyi Rih. In Odesa and surrounding areas, 35 people were wounded in what regional head Oleh Kiper called a “massive attack,” including a residential high-rise whose upper floors were destroyed.
Speaking to reporters at the BRICS summit in India on Friday, Putin said European governments considering troops in Ukraine would mean “a war with Russia,” while claiming Moscow does not threaten Europe. Some European leaders have discussed a possible postwar peacekeeping force — a prospect the Kremlin rejects.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Deutsche Welle he would meet Putin if both were invited to the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday that if Zelenskyy wants a meeting, Putin has said he could fly to Moscow.
Sources: Associated Press
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