Russia-Ukraine strikes kill at least 15, Kyiv hospital hit

MOSCOW, Nov 13: Ukrainian attacks killed at least nine people in Russia overnight, while Moscow struck a hospital in Kyiv and killed at least three in the south of the country, officials on both sides said Friday.

The latest round of strikes comes at the end of a week of US-led shuttle diplomacy on ending the war that saw Russian President Vladimir Putin rule out compromising on his hardline demands.

Russia said on Friday that it shot down nearly 1,200 Ukrainian drones overnight, one of the largest swarms unleashed by Kyiv.

Ukraine says its retaliatory attacks are justified retribution for Russia's bombardments of its cities, and target Moscow's vital energy revenues.

A strike on an industrial facility in the central Samara region killed four people, the local Russian governor said on social media, without providing further details.

Another four people working in an industrial zone home to an oil refinery and a chemical factory were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the southern Volgograd region, local authorities said.

One person was killed in the Bryansk border region, which comes under frequent fire.

Ukrainian authorities meanwhile reported that another night of Russian attacks had set a hospital ablaze.

Meanwhile, Russia said Friday it had not yet agreed to let Europeans join US-mediated talks on ending the war in Ukraine, after Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky and American envoy Jared Kushner said Europe would take part in the next round.

"Once we understand their real intentions and their willingness to contribute to the peace process, then we can make a decision on holding talks in an expanded format," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"If the Europeans really do have someone who is at least authorised in some way to talk, and if the Europeans really do have the desire to do so, then, of course, we will be ready to talk to them," Peskov said.�" AFP