Authorities in Ukraine reported a deadly drone strike by Russian forces on a bus transporting miners in the city of Dnipro, leading to at least twelve deaths and numerous injuries. This attack happened on Sunday, shortly before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the upcoming peace negotiations involving Russian and Ukrainian delegations were scheduled for February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi, rather than the initially expected date.
Emergency services responded to the incident, which also ignited a fire that was quickly extinguished. The bus belonged to DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company. In a statement via Telegram, DTEK condemned the action as a "large-scale terrorist attack" targeting its mining operations in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Dnipro is the administrative center. The company indicated that the attack’s epicenter was the convoy carrying workers from their shifts at the local mines.
This assault occurs in the wake of statements from U.S. President Donald Trump, who noted that the Kremlin had agreed to temporarily suspend strikes on the Ukrainian capital and other urban centers to alleviate civilian hardship during severe winter conditions.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal denounced the strike as a deliberate and cynical attack on personnel within the energy sector, specifying that the incident took place near the Ternivska mine located east of Dnipro. Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian emergency services also reported a separate drone attack by Russian forces on a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine. The attack on this medical facility injured six women and caused a fire in the gynecology reception area, which authorities were able to control.
Meanwhile, anticipated peace talks involving delegations from Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, initially expected to happen Sunday in Abu Dhabi, were postponed. President Zelenskyy confirmed that discussions would now commence on February 4 and 5. He emphasized Ukraine’s readiness for substantive engagement and expressed hope for outcomes leading toward a dignified resolution of the conflict. At the time of reporting, neither U.S. nor Russian officials had commented on the schedule change.
On Saturday, Kirill Dmitriev, a senior Russian envoy, described his meeting with the U.S. delegation in Florida as "constructive". Despite an ongoing yearlong diplomatic effort spearheaded by the Trump administration to mediate peace, limited details have been disclosed regarding the Abu Dhabi negotiations. Although there is nominal agreement in principle for compromise, Moscow and Kyiv maintain deep divisions concerning fundamental terms. Central disagreements involve the status of territories in eastern Ukraine, especially the industrial Donbas region, and potential territorial concessions to Russia.
In addition to the Dnipro strike, Russian forces launched drone attacks on multiple sites across Ukraine over the weekend. Among these, a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia sustained damage with casualties reported. The Kremlin had announced a temporary pause in strikes on Kyiv until Sunday but withheld further information, making independent verification difficult. Recent Russian assaults have targeted energy infrastructure in Odesa and Kharkiv, with a prior attack on the Kyiv region resulting in fatalities and injuries.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that overnight Russia deployed 90 attack drones, with 14 successfully hitting nine targets. Incidents in Dnipro included a strike killing a woman and a man. Russian shelling also affected central Kherson, severely injuring a 59-year-old woman. The Russian Defense Ministry stated its operations involved extensive use of aviation, drones, missile, and artillery forces targeting Ukrainian transport infrastructure. Additionally, Russian air defenses claimed to have intercepted 21 Ukrainian drones traversing southwestern and western Russian territory without reporting casualties or damage.