'They're still killing us', says Zelenskyy as Russia strikes Ukraine hours before Trump-Putin meeting
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia is "still killing" Ukranians in strikes across the country - on the day Donald Trump heads to Alaska for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin.
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Mr Zelenskyy has said on Telegram he is hearing of "deliberate Russian strikes" in Sumy, the Dnipro region, Zaporizhzhia, the Kherson region, and the Donetsk region.
"The war continues," he said.
"It continues precisely because there is not only an order, but also signals about Moscow's preparation to end this war.
"On the day of the negotiations, they are also killing. And this says a lot."
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Media outlet Ukrainska Pravda said Russian forces launched a strike on the heart of the city of Sumy, causing a fire.
Oleh Hryhorov, the head of Sumy Oblast Military Administration, said: "The enemy targeted civilian infrastructure in the central part of the Sumy hromada.
"A fire has broken out at the site of the strike. Emergency services are working at the scene."
He did not specify which weapons were used and information about casualties is in the process of being gathered.
Russia's defence ministry has denied attacking a market in central Sumy.
The country's state-run news agency RIA Novosti has said Ukraine is blaming Russia for the attack as a means of disrupting the US-Russia summit in Alaska, which is taking place later today.
It comes as Mr Trump boarded Air Force One this morning, telling reporters that the meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, could set up a second summit where a peace deal could be hammered out.
Mr Zelenskyy would attend that hypothetical meeting, along with other European leaders, but the Ukrainian president will not be present in Alaska on Friday.
Mr Trump has previously warned Mr Putin will face "severe consequences" if he rejects the possibility of peace in Ukraine.
"Economically severe, yes, it will be very severe. I'm not doing this for my health. I'd like to focus on our country, but I'm doing this to save a lot of lives, yes, very severe," Mr Trump added.