Kiev/Moscow, 2 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) – At least 12 people have been killed in a Russian drone attack on the central Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, according to the latest official reports from Sunday evening.

A further 16 people were said to have been injured, nine of them seriously, the mine management company DTEK announced on Telegram. DTEK had originally reported 15 fatalities.

According to initial reports from the Ukrainian media, a Russian combat drone hit a bus carrying miners. The miners were on their way home after a shift change, according to DTEK. More drones struck the coal-mining site.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack was a classic example of a crime, which he said showed that Russia was responsible for the escalation. "The evil must come to an end," he said in his evening video address.

Russian drones hit maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhya

At least nine people were injured when Russian drones hit a maternity hospital in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya, officials said.

Military Governor Ivan Federov said six people were injured in an initial strike, including two women who had been at the hospital for an examination.

In a second attack, two women and a 4-year-old child were injured, he said.

Federov published photos of the ruined building on Telegram, which showed shattered windows and hospital rooms in disarray.

Earlier on Sunday, officials said a man and a woman had been killed in overnight Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

A fire broke out and a house was destroyed, the regional military administrator, Oleksandr Hanzha, posted on Telegram.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported a total of 90 overnight Russian drone attacks across the country, including a dozen impacts.

The attacks come amid ongoing negotiations to end nearly four years of fighting.

Continuation of peace talks

Zelensky said on Sunday that three-way peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States are to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

Direct negotiations between Kiev and Moscow had been expected to take place on Sunday, but it remained initially unclear whether that meeting had been held, with Zelensky only saying that his team delivered a report setting out the new dates for the talks in the United Arab Emirates.

Direct talks between the warring parties resumed in Abu Dhabi a week ago after a long hiatus. They were held behind closed doors and mediated by the United States through its chief negotiator Steve Witkoff.

Ahead of the planned bilateral talks on Sunday, Russia had agreed to a request by US President Donald Trump to temporarily halt attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, after strikes on power plants left many without electricity, heating and water in sub-zero temperatures.

The limited ceasefire was due to last until Sunday, according to the Kremlin.

While Ukraine responded cautiously to the announcement, there were initially no reports of new strikes on energy facilities.

Work to restore electricity is ongoing following a blackout on Saturday caused by a failure of power lines.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that some 1,000 households remain without heating after supplies in the capital were crippled by heavy Russian bombardment that knocked out power and heating.

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine