Zelenskyy meets Merz in Berlin, hopes Abu Dhabi talks lead to Putin meeting

▲ Escalating

Death toll from Russian guided-bomb attack on aid site in southern Ukraine reaches 29

The toll from a Russian attack on people gathered for humanitarian aid in southern Ukraine rose to 29 by Tuesday, with 48 still missing. The strike came on Monday, hours after the six-day Kherson-region ceasefire expired, and Kyiv says at least nine 3,000kg aerial bombs hit the village. Overnight, Russian missiles and bombs also hit a hospital and power plants, injuring at least 73 people. Zelenskyy met Chancellor Merz in Berlin ahead of trilateral talks with Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi next week.

• The Kherson-region truce, described as the longest of the war, ended on Sunday evening and was not extended. Hundreds of people left Oleshky during it, and the UN World Food Programme is feeding more than 400 of them.
• Ukraine and Russia traded blame over hacks of their emergency alert apps after the truce ended.
• Zelenskyy says he hopes the Abu Dhabi talks open a path to a meeting with Putin, while Merz says Russia has yet to engage seriously in peace efforts.
• UNICEF says Ukraine has had almost 2,000 attacks on education since 2022, about 270 of them this year.