Russian strikes kill pregnant woman in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region

Russian drone and missile strikes kept killing civilians in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region even as Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled he was open to negotiations, laying bare the gap between diplomacy and the battlefield. The latest attack hit the town of Chuhuiv and the wider Kharkiv area, where repeated Russian aerial assaults have left homes, shops and streets vulnerable to the next blast.

Ukrainian prosecutors said the Chuhuiv strike damaged residential buildings, garages and shops and injured six more people. Three people were killed there: two men aged 56 and 70, and a 22-year-old pregnant woman. Local authorities declared June 9 a day of mourning in Chuhuiv. In Kharkiv city, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said 16 people sought medical help after a separate drone attack, and emergency photos showed firefighters working amid burned-out cars and a building engulfed in flames.

The deaths came as Zelenskyy tried to keep diplomatic options alive. Late Monday, he said he had a positive call with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and welcomed their willingness to work toward a settlement in the coming weeks. In an interview with The Guardian, Zelenskyy said he had told a businessman carrying a possible diplomatic message that Ukraine was ready to speak from the beginning and did not want the war. Reporting on the exchange identified the businessman as Roman Abramovich, the Russian businessman with ties to Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy has recently pushed for direct talks with Putin. On June 4, he published an open letter inviting Putin to meet and warning that Kyiv was ready to keep fighting if peace talks failed. The Kremlin said there were many questions to answer before any ceasefire. After meeting the leaders of Britain, France and Germany in London, Zelenskyy said the Europeans were ready to back ceasefire talks, underscoring how much of the diplomatic work now depends on Western support staying firm.

At the same time, Ukraine’s own long-range drone campaign is squeezing Russian-controlled territory. Crimea tightened gasoline rationing on June 4, suspending cash sales and new fuel coupons because of shortages linked to Ukrainian strikes. Russian authorities later suspended train service to Crimea after a drone knocked out a locomotive, adding transport pressure to the occupied peninsula.

The United Nations said early-June attacks across Ukraine killed civilians and damaged homes, hospitals and shops, reinforcing the pattern of repeated strikes on civilian areas. For Kharkiv region, the message remains brutal: diplomacy is moving only as fast as the missiles allow.