Russia and Ukraine batter each other with strikes a day before US-brokered talks
Russia has hit Ukraine's power grid again, while Ukrainian forces targeted one of Russia's biggest oil refineries, hours before new US-brokered talks were due to begin.
Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were due to meet on Monday for new talks on how to end the fighting. Nearly five years after Russia invaded its neighbour, the two countries remain locked in battle, with no sign that either side is ready to budge from its demands.
US President Donald Trump said in a '60 Minutes' interview that aired on Sunday that Moscow and Kyiv are 'very close' to a deal, despite the 'tremendous hatred' between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He said that Ukraine would have 'a little bit different shape' under the settlement, but he did not elaborate. Trump has previously made claims about developments in the war which have not materialised.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said on Monday that it had targeted four electrical substations in Ukraine's Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions. The attacks are part of Russia's campaign to deny Ukrainian civilians heating, light and running water during the approaching winter.
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 317 drones of various types overnight, including 105 jet-powered drones.
Russian aerial attacks have pummelled Ukraine throughout the war, with gruesome consequences. A Russian glide bomb attack last week near the front line in the southern Zaporizhzhia region killed at least 55 people at an aid distribution centre.
Meanwhile, long-range drones developed by Ukraine during the war started a fire at the KINEF oil refinery, one of Russia's largest, close to St Petersburg and more than 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) from the Ukrainian border, Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Monday.
Ukraine claimed in early October that its long-range strikes had neutralised more than half of Russia's oil refining capacity, hampering Moscow's ability to supply its forces.
Zelenskyy said on Monday that the European Union had agreed to activate a special emergency mechanism that speeds up funding for power grid repairs.
The last three-way talks, in Geneva in February, also took place amid continuing attacks. They delivered no significant progress in ending the war, but some circumstances have changed.
Trump, whose stance on the war has varied, has to reckon with Democrats taking over Congress in January following the US midterm elections. They could demand more support for Ukraine.
Russian state finances are under heavy strain due to the war, and Ukraine's economy is being choked by the relentless attacks.
In Abu Dhabi, a planned two days of talks beginning Tuesday will look at what security guarantees would satisfy Russia, which sees NATO as a threat, and Ukraine, which wants to prevent future Russian invasions.
Putin has sought to sideline European countries and negotiate Ukraine's future directly with Trump.
