Russia bombards Ukraine power grid before Abu Dhabi talks; Merz urges Moscow to engage

KYIV/BERLIN – Russia bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in waves on Tuesday, knocking out power to swathes of the country with dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones, a week before U.S.-brokered peace talks were due to resume. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 33 people had been killed on Monday when Russia twice bombed a school being used for aid distribution in the village of Komyshuvakha, near the front line in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. About 50 people were still believed to be buried under the rubble, he said.

Russian officials said Ukraine had set fire overnight to a major oil refinery in the city of Yaroslavl.