RUSSIAN drones slammed into two Ukrainian cities, killing at least one person in night-time attacks, authorities said today, as a Kremlin official said he expected an announcement next week on dates for a fresh round of direct peace talks.

Russia’s overnight drone assault targeted the southern Ukraine port city of Odessa and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, blocks of flats, officials said.

The barrage of more than 20 drones injured about 24 people, including girls aged 17 and 12, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“Russia continues its tactics of targeted terror against our people,” Mr Zelensky said on messaging app Telegram, urging the United States and the European Union to crank up economic pressure on Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that the date for the next round of peace talks is expected to be agreed upon next week.

Kiev officials have not recently spoken about resuming talks with Russia, last held when delegations met in Istanbul on June 2.

The two rounds of brief talks yielded only agreements on the exchange of prisoners and wounded soldiers.

A fire caused by Russia’s strike on Odessa engulfed a four-storey residential building, which partly collapsed and injured three emergency workers.

A separate fire spread across the upper floors of a 23-storey high-rise, leading to the evacuation of around 600 residents.

In Kharkiv, at least eight drones hit civilian infrastructure, injuring four people, including two children, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.

Russia launched 80 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Ukraine’s air force said, claiming that air defences shot down or jammed 70 of them.