Russia airstrikes threaten peace talks, says Zelensky

A drone and missile attack on western Ukraine overnight that hit targets including a US-owned electronics plant proved that Vladimir Putin is trying to avoid peace talks, warned Kyiv.

- ALASTAIR JAMIESON

The aerial assault was one of Russia's biggest this year and came as Moscow objected to key aspects of proposals that could end the war it started in February 2022.

Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, saying it was carried out “as if nothing were changing at all”. “The signals from Russia are simply, to be honest, indecent,” he told Ukrainians in his nightly presidential address.

A US electronics plant near the Hungarian border was struck, according to Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. The Flex factory is one of the biggest American investments in Ukraine.

At the moment of impact, 600 night-shift workers were on the premises, and six were injured, Mr Hunder added. Russian attacks on Ukraine since it launched its invasion have damaged property belonging to more than half of the chamber’s roughly 600 members, he said.

“The message is clear: Russia is not looking for peace. Russia is attacking American business in Ukraine, humiliating American business,” Mr Hunder said.