Russian rockets kill 4 in a Ukrainian city as Kyiv claims it damaged key bridge

A Russian rocket attack targeted the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday killing at least four people and wounding 25 officials said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the assault saying it underscored that Moscow has no intentions of halting the 3yearold warThe attack came a day after direct peace talks in Istanbul made no progress on ending the fighting Local authorities said the barrage of rockets struck apartment buildings and a medical facility in the centre of Sumy Meanwhile Ukraines secret services said they struck inside Russia again two days after a spectacular Ukrainian drone attack on air bases deep inside the countryA vital bridge to CrimeaThe Ukrainian Security Service known by its acronym SBU claimed it damaged the foundations of the Kerch Bridge linking Russia and illegally annexed Crimea a key artery for Russian military supplies in the war The SBU said it detonated 1100 kilograms 2400 pounds of explosives on the seabed overnight in an operation that took several months to set up It was the third Ukrainian strike on the bridge since Russias invasion of its neighbour in February 2022 the SBU saidThe bridge is now effectively in an emergency condition the SBU claimed The agency said no civilians were killed or injured in the operation It was not possible to independently confirm those claims Traffic across the Kerch Bridge was halted for three hours early Tuesday but it reopened at 9 am official Russian social media channels said It closed for a second time at 320 pm and reopened again after two and a half hoursZelenskyy appeals for pressure on MoscowThe Ukrainian president called the attack on Sumy a completely deliberate strike on civilians Thats all you need to know about Russias desire to end this war the Ukrainian president wrote on social media Zelenskyy appealed for global pressure and decisive action from the United States Europe and everyone in the world who holds power Without it he said Russian President Vladimir Putin will not agree even to a ceasefireThe war has killed more than 12000 Ukrainian civilians according to the United Nations as well as tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides along the roughly 1000kilometer 620mile front line where the fighting grinds on despite USled efforts to broker a peace dealA stunning Ukrainian drone attackThough Russia has a bigger army and more economic resources than Ukraine the Ukrainian drone attack over the weekend damaged or destroyed more than 40 warplanes at air bases deep inside Russia Ukrainian officials said touting it as a serious blow to the Kremlins strategic arsenal and military prestige The Russian Defence Ministry acknowledged that the Ukrainian attack set several planes ablaze at two air bases but said the military repelled attempted attacks on three other air basesBoth Zelenskyy and Putin have been eager to show US President Donald Trump that they share his ambition to end the fighting and avoid possible punitive measures from Washington Ukraine has accepted a USproposed ceasefire but the Kremlin effectively rejected it Putin has made it clear that any peace settlement has to be on his termsDelegations from the warring sides agreed Monday to swap dead and wounded troops but their conditions for ending the war remained far apart Dmitry Medvedev a former Russian president who now serves as deputy head of the countrys Security Council chaired by Putin indicated on Tuesday that there would be no letup in Russias invasionThe Istanbul talks are not for striking a compromise peace on someone elses delusional terms but for ensuring our swift victory and the complete destruction of Ukraines government he said In an apparent comment on the latest Ukrainian strikes he declared that retribution is inevitableA PutinZelenskyyTrump meeting unlikely soon Moscow saysKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to suggestions that a facetoface meeting between Putin Trump and Zelenskyy could break the deadlock saying the possibility was unlikely in the near future Meanwhile a senior Ukrainian delegation led by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko has traveled to Washington for talks about defence sanctions and postwar recovery said Andrii Yermak the head of Ukraines presidential officeThe delegation will meet with representatives from both major US political parties as well as with advisers to Trump Yermak added Ukrainians in Kyiv welcomed the strikes on Russian air bases but were gloomy about prospects for a peace agreement Russia has invested too many resources in this war to just stop for nothing said serviceman Oleh Nikolenko 43His wife Anastasia Nikolenko a 38yearold designer said diplomacy cannot stop the fighting We need to show by force by physical force that we cannot be defeated she said Russia recently expanded its attacks on Sumy and the Kharkiv region following Putins promise to create a buffer zone along the border that might prevent longrange Ukrainian attacks from hitting Russian soil Sumy about 25 kilometres 15 miles from the border had a prewar population of around 250000The Russian Defence Ministry claimed its troops had taken the Ukrainian village of Andriivka close to the border in the Sumy region Ukraine made no immediate comment on the claim which could not be independently verified Russia also fired rocket artillery at Chystovodivka village in the Kharkiv region killing two people and injuring three others regional Gov Oleh Syniehubov saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever