Russian drone strike kills nine in Ukraine

A Russian drone hit a bus evacuating civilians from a front-line area in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region Saturday, killing nine people, Ukrainian officials said, hours after Moscow and Kyiv had held their first direct peace talks in years that failed to yield a ceasefire.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

Seven people were also injured in the attack in Bilopillia, a town around 10 kilometres from Russia's border, three of them seriously, according to local Gov Oleh Hryhorov and Ukraine's national police.

The Associated Press couldn't independently verify the report. There was no comment from Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “deliberate killing of civilians,” adding in a post on Telegram messaging app that “Russians could scarcely not realize what kind of vehicle they were hitting.”