Russian strikes in Ukraine killed five civilians and wounded dozens, local officials said on Saturday, as Vladimir Putin warned that deploying European troops to the country would amount to “a war with Russia”.
The attacks came amid an intensifying Russian air campaign involving ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones. Ukrainian officials have said Moscow is targeting the power grid ahead of winter in an effort to demoralise civilians.
Two people were killed and one was wounded when Russian drones struck a residential area in Zaporizhzhia overnight, regional head Ivan Fedorov said.
One person died and three others were injured in strikes on Kryvyi Rih, according to local officials. In Odesa and the surrounding area, 35 people were wounded in what regional head Oleh Kiper described as a “massive attack”.
A residential high-rise was among the buildings hit in Odesa, with its upper floors completely destroyed. Later on Saturday, two people were reported killed in a Russian attack on a grocery store in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had struck two chemical industry facilities in Russia, in Samara and Perm. The governors of the two regions did not immediately comment, while the independent Russian outlet Astra reported drone attacks on chemical plants in both areas.
Putin warns of conflict over European troops
Putin issued his warning while speaking to reporters at a BRICS summit in India on Friday. “Now they’re talking about how they’re considering sending troops into Ukraine. That means a war with Russia,” he said.
Several European leaders have pledged support for a potential peacekeeping force, but Moscow has repeatedly said such a deployment would be unacceptable.
Putin also denied that Russia posed a threat to Europe. “There is no such threat and never has been,” he said, adding: “We do not threaten, nor do we intend to threaten, European countries.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said two incidents along Ukraine’s borders with Poland and Moldova this week offered a preview of possible intensified Russian provocations at border crossings with Europe.
Two people were killed when Russian drones struck the Starokozache crossing between Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday night, Tusk said. He added that a “direct threat” to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing the following night had been avoided through co-operation between Warsaw and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy offers to meet Putin at G20
Zelenskyy said he would meet Putin if both leaders were invited to the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December, in an interview with Deutsche Welle published on Saturday.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the possibility of the Russian president attending the summit had not yet been discussed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had previously indicated that Zelenskyy could travel to Moscow for talks, an offer Kyiv has rejected. “If he really wants to meet with Putin, Putin has already said that he could fly to Moscow,” Mr Peskov said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was “ready for negotiations”, but insisted that what Moscow calls its “special military operation” would not be suspended while talks were taking place.
