Russian airstrike on Ukrainian city kills 1 as US pushes June deadline for peace deal

A Russian airstrike hit a residential area in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Sunday, killing one person and wounding two others, according to Ukrainian officials. The attack occurred in the Donetsk region and caused a fire in a nine-story apartment building, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported.

In a separate overnight assault, Russian forces targeted energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Poltava region, according to Serhii Koretskyi, chief executive of Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned gas company. These strikes continue Russia’s long-standing strategy of attacking Ukraine’s power grid, a tactic that has intensified during winter months throughout the nearly four-year conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed on Friday that the United States has established a June deadline for Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace agreement to end the war. Speaking to reporters, Zelenskyy indicated that if this timeframe is not met, the incoming Trump administration would likely apply pressure on both sides to conclude hostilities.

“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelenskyy said. “And they say that they want to do everything by June. And they will do everything to end the war. And they want a clear schedule of all events.”

The Ukrainian president also disclosed that the U.S. has suggested holding the next round of trilateral peace talks on American soil, likely in Miami, marking the first time such negotiations would take place in the United States. Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine has agreed to participate in these discussions.

This June deadline follows previous U.S.-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, which failed to produce meaningful progress. The negotiations remain stalled as both sides maintain incompatible demands. Russia continues to insist that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas region, where fighting remains intense—a condition that Kyiv has repeatedly stated it will not accept.

The ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine has seen Russian forces persistently targeting civilian areas and critical infrastructure. This strategy of “weaponizing winter,” as Kyiv officials describe it, aims to weaken Ukrainian morale and resilience by disrupting essential services during the coldest months of the year.

The war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, has devastated large portions of eastern Ukraine, forced millions to flee their homes, and resulted in thousands of civilian casualties. The Donetsk region, where Sunday’s strike occurred, has been a focal point of fighting since 2014, when Russian-backed separatists first seized territory.

Despite multiple attempts at negotiation and various international peace initiatives, a resolution to the conflict remains elusive. The proposed June deadline represents the latest effort to establish a timeline for peace talks, though significant obstacles remain given the entrenched positions of both sides.

As the war approaches its fourth year, the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine continues to deteriorate, with civilian infrastructure repeatedly damaged by Russian attacks. International organizations have documented numerous potential war crimes throughout the conflict, adding another layer of complexity to any potential peace negotiations.

The upcoming trilateral talks in Miami will be closely watched by international observers as a potential turning point in efforts to end Europe’s largest armed conflict since World War II.