Russia, Ukraine Trade Overnight Attacks03/17 06:20

   

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russia and Ukraine traded heavy aerial blows 
overnight, with both sides on Saturday reporting more than 100 enemy drones 
over their respective territories.

   The attacks comes less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin 
met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal 
for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine.

   Putin told a press conference on Thursday that he supported a truce in 
principle but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is 
agreed. Kyiv has already endorsed the truce proposal, although Ukrainian 
officials have publicly raised doubts as to whether Moscow will commit to such 
a deal.

   Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Saturday, after virtual talks between 
Western allies hosted by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy voiced 
Ukraine's support for the 30-day full ceasefire proposal to discuss a 
longer-term peace plan, but said Russia would attempt to derail talks with 
conditions and "buts".

   Starmer has told allies to "keep the pressure" on Putin to back a ceasefire 
in Ukraine, hailing Ukraine as the "party of peace." Starmer said Putin will 
"sooner or later" have to "come to the table.

   In a statement earlier on Saturday, Zelenskyy had accused Moscow of building 
up forces along the border.

   "The build up of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep 
ignoring diplomacy. It is clear that Russia is prolonging the war," he said.

   However, Zelenskyy stressed that if Russia did not agree with the U.S. 
proposal there would be "specific, harsh and straightforward" response from the 
administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

   He also said that Kyiv's troops were maintaining their presence in Russia's 
Kursk region after Trump said Friday that "thousands" of Ukrainian troops had 
been surrounded by the Russian military.

   "The operation of our forces in the designated areas of the Kursk region 
continues," Zelenskyy said. "Our troops continue to hold back Russian and North 
Korean groupings in the Kursk region. There is no encirclement of our troops."

   U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Saturday with Russian Foreign 
Minister Sergei Lavrov. In the call, they discussed next steps to follow up on 
recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards 
restoring communication between the United States and Russia, State Department 
spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

   Ukraine's air force said Saturday that Russia had launched a barrage of 178 
drones and two ballistic missiles over the country overnight. The attack was a 
mixture of Shahed-type drones and imitation drones designed to confuse air 
defenses. Some 130 drones were shot down, while 38 more failed to reach their 
targets.

   Russia attacked energy facilities, causing significant damage, striking 
energy infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, Ukraine's 
private energy company DTEK said in a statement on Saturday. Some residents 
were left without electricity.

   "The damage is significant. Energy workers are already working on the 
ground. We are doing everything possible to restore power to homes as soon as 
possible," the energy firm said.

   Falling drone debris in Russia's Volgograd region sparked a fire in the 
Krasnoarmeysky district of the city, close to a Lukoil oil refinery, according 
to Gov. Andrei Bocharov, who provided no further details. Nearby airports 
temporarily halted flights, local media outlets reported. No casualties were 
reported.

   The Volgograd refinery has been targeted by Kyiv's forces on several 
occasions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 
three years ago, most recently in a drone attack on Feb. 15.