Russian strikes killed at least two people in Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukrainian officials said, hours after Moscow’s top diplomat publicly waved off German appeals to pull back from escalating tensions with NATO, according to the Associated Press.
In Kyiv, a man was found dead after a Russian drone struck a non-residential building overnight, Ukraine’s emergency service said. A second drone hit a single-story vehicle repair shop, setting it ablaze and forcing firefighters to battle the flames into the early hours of Sunday morning, the emergency service added.
Russian forces also struck Ukraine’s southern Odesa region — the area surrounding the country’s main Black Sea port — in multiple waves overnight, killing one person and wounding two others, according to Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration.
A Rare Face-to-Face, and a Blunt Rebuff
The casualties came roughly a day after what is believed to have been the first one-on-one meeting between Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and his German counterpart since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The encounter took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders in New York.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul requested the sit-down, which came amid a grinding aerial war between Russia and Ukraine that shows no sign of easing.
Lavrov was dismissive in his account of the talks. He said Wadephul “simply reiterated his official position condemning Russia.”
“You can judge for yourself whether that counts as dialogue or not,” Lavrov told reporters, per AP.
From the German side, the readout was more measured. A German delegation official said Wadephul expressed openness to a better relationship with Moscow but described a genuine willingness from Russia’s leadership to end the war in Ukraine as a prerequisite.
Ties Fraying Over Alleged Drone Attack
Relations between Berlin and Moscow have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks, following an attempted drone attack last month at Leipzig airport that Berlin has blamed on the Kremlin. That episode hung over the New York meeting, which was described as the first direct, one-on-one contact between the two top diplomats since the war began.
The backdrop on the battlefield offers little reason for optimism. Front-line positions have remained largely static since last year, but the air war has intensified dramatically in recent months. Moscow has pummeled its neighbor with cruise and ballistic missiles, heavy glide bombs and jet-powered drones, according to AP, while Kyiv’s long-range drones have targeted Russian oil refineries and businesses.
A War That Moscow Won’t Call a War
The diplomatic frost is mirrored at the United Nations, where an overwhelming majority of member nations have repeatedly condemned Moscow’s invasion. The Kremlin continues to describe the conflict as a “special military operation” aimed at ensuring Russia’s security and protecting the rights of Russian speakers — a framing Kyiv and its allies reject outright.
With no sign of a breakthrough on the diplomatic track, the overnight strikes underscore how thoroughly the war’s momentum has shifted to the skies, where both sides are increasingly relying on drones and long-range weapons to inflict damage far from the front lines.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/09/27/russian-strikes-kill-two-in-ukraine-as-moscow-rejects-german-calls-to-de-escalate/