Russian bombardments overnight killed at least four civilians and destroyed residential buildings in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine as the Kremlin signaled that hopes for resuming peace talks have been effectively suspended.
Donetsk Prosecutor’s Office said the city of Kostiantynivka was shelled for nearly an hour with rockets, destroying 14 homes in a residential district. Three civilians were killed and seven others injured in the attack, the office said. Further north, the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported one man killed and two others injured after bombs and rockets struck homes and farms in the region.
The industrial city of Kostiantynivka has faced repeated strikes this summer, officials said, with attacks damaging critical infrastructure and leaving many residents without electricity and water. Russian forces have intensified operations in the Donetsk region, an area Western and Ukrainian officials have identified as central to the course of the war.
The barrage came a day after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said negotiations were "on pause," and criticized European promises of post-war security guarantees for Ukraine as a dealbreaker for Moscow. "The fact that the Europeans are hindering this is indeed true," Peskov said, adding that "for now, it is probably more accurate to say that there is a pause." Delegations from the warring countries have not met for talks since July, despite diplomatic efforts and public pressure for negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will only come to the negotiating table when Moscow's military resources are depleted. "The Russian war machine will only stop when it runs out of fuel," Zelenskyy said at a conference. "And Putin will start to stop it himself when he feels, truly, that the resources for the war are running low."
In response to recent security concerns, NATO has begun deploying additional forces and equipment to strengthen defenses on the alliance's eastern flank. The operation, dubbed "Eastern Sentry," includes fighter jets, a frigate and ground air-defense systems provided by France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Denmark. France mobilized three aircraft as part of the buildup.
U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the alliance’s supreme commander in Europe, told reporters that the deployments reflect "an entirely new defense design" intended to deter further threats after Russian-launched drones entered Polish airspace earlier in the week. The incursion into NATO airspace was characterized by alliance officials as a deliberate challenge to collective security.
The renewed shelling and the Kremlin’s comments underscore a widening gap between Kyiv’s calls for direct negotiations and Moscow’s public rejection of concessions tied to European security guarantees. Humanitarian and municipal services officials in eastern Ukraine warned that continued strikes risk deeper disruptions to water, electricity and shelter for civilians in frontline towns.
Ukrainian and regional prosecutors continue to document casualties and property damage as investigations proceed. International diplomats and defense officials said the pace of military and political maneuvers in recent days has made an immediate resumption of talks unlikely, while allies work to shore up deterrence along NATO’s eastern border.