War in Ukraine: A girl and an elderly person killed in Russian attacks

In the Zaporizhzhia region, a 9-year-old girl was killed and a 16-year-old boy was injured in a guided bomb attack that destroyed several buildings in a village near the front line, regional administration head Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram. In the city of Kherson, a 66-year-old man was killed in a shelling attack on the Dniprovskyi district, regional administration head Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram. Russian shelling also injured one person in Kharkiv (northeast), according to authorities.

On the Russian side, 10 people were injured in Ukrainian drone attacks in the Kursk region during the same night, acting regional governor Alexander Khinstein said on Telegram. Diplomatic efforts to end Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine have been intensifying in recent weeks, but have been hampered by distrust between Moscow and Kyiv, which blame each other for the lack of progress.

Moscow has offered Kiev a new direct talks in Istanbul on Monday, after a first meeting on May 16 failed to produce results. Ukraine has not yet said whether it will accept . Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday evening on Telegram that he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the matter.

“We need a ceasefire to continue moving towards peace. We need to stop killing people. We discussed a possible upcoming meeting in Istanbul and the conditions under which Ukraine is ready to participate,” Zelensky wrote. “We both agree that this meeting cannot and should not be a waste of time,” he added.