Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin says he is open to talks with Ukraine after Russian forces launch overnight attack on Odesa | Ukraine
Russia launches overnight strike on Odesa after Putin suggests he is open to direct talks with Ukraine
Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said for the first time in years that he is open to bilateral talks with Ukraine, having previously demanded Volodymyr Zelenskyy be replaced before it could happen.
Speaking to Russian state TV, Putin said:
We have always talked about this, that we have a positive attitude towards any peace initiatives. We hope that representatives of the Kyiv regime will feel the same way.
His comments were followed by Russian forces launching a mass overnight drone attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa, which, according to local officials, injured three people and damaged many apartment buildings.
“The enemy targeted a residential area in a densely populated district of Odesa,” mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov wrote in a post on Telegram.
Putin’s change of rhetoric on truce talks came as representatives from Ukraine, the UK, France and the US were set to meet in London tomorrow to talk about a potential ceasefire agreement.
Zelenskyy, under pressure from Washington to agree to some sort of agreement or have support potentially withdrawn, said the London talks “have a primary task: to push for an unconditional ceasefire. This must be the starting point”.
Vladimir Putin has falsely called Volodymyr Zelenskyy an illegitimate president. Photograph: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Reuters
In some other developments:
The Ukrainian air force said on Tuesday that Russia launched 54 drones during an overnight attack. The air force said it shot down 38 drones and another 16 did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures.
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 10 Ukrainian drones overnight, downing half of them over the Crimean Peninsula, according to reports.
Leaks suggest the Trump administration is now pushing for a “peace deal” that heavily favours Russia. It would include a pause to the war along the existing 1,000km frontline; recognition that Crimea belongs to Moscow; and a veto on Ukraine’s Nato membership.
There are also unconfirmed reports that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station – which Russia seized in 2022 – would be part of a “neutral” zone.
Key events
Russian forces have retaken the St. Nicholas Belogorsky monastery in the village of Gornal in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops had been holed up, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing a security source.
A Russian military Telegram channel said Ukraine had deployed troops, artillery and drone launchers at the historic site, which it said Russia had retaken after 10 days of fierce fighting. We have not been able to independently verify these claims.
Russia has been trying to eject Ukrainian forces from Kursk since last August after Ukraine launched a daring incursion that Volodymyr Zelenskyy hoped would give him a bargaining chip in any future talks to end the war.
However, in recent weeks Russia has retaken a swath of territory inside Kursk and has begun to push ahead into Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region.
Russian attacks across Ukraine kill five civilians over the past day – officials
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed at least five civilians over the past day, officials said. Two deaths (of a 54-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man) were reported in the village of Petropavlivka in the Kharkiv region.
Officials said a 24-year-old man was killed by a Russian drone in the village of Ivashky, also in Kharkiv, yesterday evening.
The governor of the Kherson region said one person was killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on 36 settlements across the oblast over the past day.
In the Sumy region, Russia targeted the Esman community, reportedly killing one person yesterday. We have not been able to independently verify this information yet.
Aftermath of a Russia drone attack in Sumy, Ukraine. Photograph: State Emergency Service Of Ukraine/EPA
As we mentioned in the opening post, Ukraine is due to participate in talks with US and European countries in London on Wednesday.
British prime minister Keir Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelenskyy he supports Kyiv’s calls for a full ceasefire and said the UK and France, backed by a “coalition of the willing”, have proposed providing a “reassurance” force for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
The US, however, has so far held off its support as it pulls back from its long role as a bulwark of European security.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said:
Already this Wednesday, our representatives will be working in London.
Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States - we are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace.
Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy leave after a summit for “coalition of the willing” at the Elysee Palace in Paris on 27 March 2025 Photograph: Blondet Eliot/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock
Russia has maintained its maximalist demands: that Ukraine cede all the land Putin claims to have annexed and accept permanent neutrality. Ukraine says that would amount to surrender and leave it undefended if Moscow attacks again. The opposing demands have frustrated Washington, with US President Donald Trump wanting to bring a quick end to the war, which he has described as a huge drain on American resources.
Russia launches overnight strike on Odesa after Putin suggests he is open to direct talks with Ukraine
Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said for the first time in years that he is open to bilateral talks with Ukraine, having previously demanded Volodymyr Zelenskyy be replaced before it could happen.
Speaking to Russian state TV, Putin said:
We have always talked about this, that we have a positive attitude towards any peace initiatives. We hope that representatives of the Kyiv regime will feel the same way.
His comments were followed by Russian forces launching a mass overnight drone attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa, which, according to local officials, injured three people and damaged many apartment buildings.
“The enemy targeted a residential area in a densely populated district of Odesa,” mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov wrote in a post on Telegram.
Putin’s change of rhetoric on truce talks came as representatives from Ukraine, the UK, France and the US were set to meet in London tomorrow to talk about a potential ceasefire agreement.
Zelenskyy, under pressure from Washington to agree to some sort of agreement or have support potentially withdrawn, said the London talks “have a primary task: to push for an unconditional ceasefire. This must be the starting point”.
Vladimir Putin has falsely called Volodymyr Zelenskyy an illegitimate president. Photograph: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Reuters
In some other developments:
The Ukrainian air force said on Tuesday that Russia launched 54 drones during an overnight attack. The air force said it shot down 38 drones and another 16 did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures.
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 10 Ukrainian drones overnight, downing half of them over the Crimean Peninsula, according to reports.
Leaks suggest the Trump administration is now pushing for a “peace deal” that heavily favours Russia. It would include a pause to the war along the existing 1,000km frontline; recognition that Crimea belongs to Moscow; and a veto on Ukraine’s Nato membership.
There are also unconfirmed reports that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station – which Russia seized in 2022 – would be part of a “neutral” zone.
