Once again, attacks have occurred between Ukraine and Russia. This morning, a couple died in a nighttime Russian drone attack in the region of Zaporiyia, in southern Ukraine.
The attacks come after Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks this week mediated by the United States in Abu Dhabi with the aim of reaching an agreement to end Moscow's invasion, which has lasted almost four years.
The two days of negotiations in the United Arab Emirates led to the first prisoner exchange in four months, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the talks as complicated and urged to accelerate progress.
Russian Military Intelligence Deputy Chief Shot in Moscow
The deputy director of Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, was shot in Moscow. According to witnesses, a man shot Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev several times in a residential building.
The military commander was hospitalized, as reported by the Russian Investigative Committee. Alexeyev has been one of the main supervisors of all "volunteer" Russian formations involved in the war in Ukraine.
Next Peace Talks for Ukraine Could Take Place in the U.S.
The next round of trilateral talks between Russians, Ukrainians, and Americans to seek a negotiated solution to the war initiated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine could take place "in the near future" in the United States, as stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his address to the nation last night, reported by Efe.
"It can already be said that additional meetings are planned in the near future, probably in the U.S.," Zelensky said in his speech, also declaring that the most important outcome of the contacts between his envoys and Russians and Americans that took place on Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi was the prisoner exchange that allowed 157 prisoners of war from each side to return home yesterday.
Zelensky explained that the Ukrainian negotiating team informed him at the end of the Abu Dhabi meetings this week about what was discussed in those encounters, and he announced that he would meet with his envoys upon their arrival in Kiev to receive a more detailed explanation of the conversations.
FSB Arrests Russian Accused of Spying for Ukrainian Intelligence
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) today arrested a Russian resident of the Jabarovsk region for providing Ukrainian intelligence with information about military units involved in the war in Ukraine, reported by Efe.
"Illegal espionage activities of an agent of Ukrainian intelligence services were thwarted in the Jabarovsk region," stated the FSB's official press department on its website.
According to Russian intelligence, the 1977-born citizen "established contact with a representative of a paramilitary organization banned in Russian territory that acted in the interest of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense."
Ukraine Attacks Energy Facilities in Russian Regions of Belgorod and Bryansk
Ukraine attacked energy facilities in the border regions of Belgorod and Bryansk with U.S. HIMARS missiles and long-range drones overnight, as reported by local authorities, informed by Efe.
"Belgorod has suffered another massive missile attack. Preliminarily, no casualties. The infrastructure suffered serious damage. Power outages and failures in heating and water supply services are observed in some parts of the city," stated the mayor of the regional capital, Valentin Demidov, on Telegram.
The governor of the region, Viacheslav Gladkov, also confirmed "serious damage" and denounced the lack of military targets in the city.
Ukrainian Bombing Causes "Serious Damage" in Russian City of Belgorod
Overnight bombings by Ukraine inflicted "serious damage" in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border, as stated early Friday by the region's governor, reported by Afp.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, in a solemn video posted on Telegram after midnight, announced that municipal authorities were holding an emergency meeting to develop an action plan.
"I cannot say good night, unfortunately, my dear friends," said Gladkov in the video, recorded in almost darkness. "The enemy has bombed the civilian city of Belgorod. Everyone knows we have no military targets. There has been serious damage. I have gone out to inspect the area."