THREE PEOPLE HAVE been killed and 12 have been wounded in a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said. 

The attack comes as both countries prepare to sold separate ceasefire talks with US officials on Monday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected an unconditional ceasefire and instead agreed to stop attacks on Ukraine energy sites for 30 days.

Zaporizhzhia governor Ivan Fedorov said that the family of three, including a teenage girl, were killed when a drone crashed into their house last night. 

“The bodies of the daughter and father were pulled out from the rubble. The doctors fought for the mother’s life for more than 10 hours, but unfortunately, they failed to save her,” he said on Telegram.

He said that “residential buildings, private cars, and social infrastructure facilities were set on fire” in the attack, sharing photos showing emergency services scouring the rubble of damaged residential buildings for survivors.

A clock with a family photo seen among the debris of the house. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 179 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight.

It said 100 were intercepted and another 63 “lost,” likely having been electronically jammed.

Officials in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions also reported fires breaking out due to the falling debris from intercepted drones.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, said its air defence systems shot down 47 Ukrainian drones.

Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire after US President Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders, though it remains to be seen what possible targets would be off limits to attack.

Rescue workers clearing the rubble of the house destroyed by a Russian drone strike. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The three sides appeared to hold starkly different views about what the deal covered.

While the White House said “energy and infrastructure” would be part of the agreement, the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure”.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would also like railways and ports to be protected.

After speaking with Trump on Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader told reporters that Ukraine and US negotiators will discuss technical details related to the partial ceasefire during a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

Russian negotiators are also set to hold separate talks with US officials there.

Zelenskyy emphasised that Ukraine is open to a full, 30-day ceasefire that Trump has proposed, saying: “We will not be against any format, any steps toward unconditional ceasefire.”

Putin has made a complete ceasefire conditional on a halt of arms supplies to Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine’s military mobilisation – demands rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies.

With reporting from Press Association