Russia and Ukraine traded deadly air attacks early Monday, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met European leaders in London. A Russian attack killed five people and injured 14 in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram. The attack involved drones and shelling, damaging infrastructure, residential buildings, and cars.

In the Odesa region, Russian strikes on energy infrastructure caused power outages for over 1,000 customers, Governor Oleh Kiper reported. This followed a Russian attack on a nuclear fuel storage facility near the defunct Chornobyl plant.

Ukraine carried out several retaliatory strikes. A drone struck a train in Russian-annexed Crimea, killing its assistant driver and injuring the driver, according to Moscow-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov. Russian air defense units repelled an overnight drone attack on energy infrastructure in the Volgograd region, but falling debris sparked a fire at a pumping station, with no casualties reported.

At Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, a loading complex caught fire after a drone attack. Local authorities said no one was injured, while 130 firefighters battled the blaze.

The attacks came after Zelenskyy received backing from UK, French, and German leaders for direct ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia, following a London meeting Sunday. The so-called E3 group commended Zelenskyy's call for dialogue with Putin, who rejected the offer.

Source: www.aljazeera.com