A Russian missile attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has killed four people and injured 40, authorities have said. Unconfirmed reports say a ballistic missile was used in the strike, which took place on Monday morning. Videos shared online showed a large explosion occur on the side of a motorway, and local media said an office block, cars and shops were hit or badly damaged. Dnipro, which lies around 100km (62 miles) from the front line, has frequently come under Russian attack since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.The attack came a day before US special envoy Steve Witkoff is due to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Witkoff has visited the Russian president several times this year, but has never been to Kyiv. On Sunday, a Ukrainian delegation met Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Florida. Zelensky said on Monday that the talks had been “very constructive” but that there were some “tough issues” to be worked through – echoing Rubio’s comments that the meeting had been “productive” but that there was “more work to be done”.The Florida meeting was the latest step in weeks of intense “shuttle diplomacy” which saw Ukrainian and Russian delegations separately engage with US officials to discuss a peace plan. Despite efforts, however, substantial differences remain between Moscow and Kyiv’s positions. Russia has refused to back down from its core demand that Ukraine retreats from the areas of the Donbas region it still holds, which Kyiv maintains it will never do. “If they don’t withdraw, we’ll achieve this by force of arms,” Vladimir Putin said. In response, Zelensky said that Russia “scorned” efforts “to truly end the war”.Matters …
