Trump's Ukraine envoy postpones planned trip to Kyiv, top Ukrainian diplomat says

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An upcoming trip to Kyiv by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia has been canceled but will be rescheduled, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Tuesday.

The planned meetings between Keith Kellogg, a highly decorated retired three-star general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, and Ukrainian officials are “extremely important,” Sybiha told reporters in the Ukrainian capital.

“I am confident that this meeting will take place in its own time,” he said during a news conference with his visiting Icelandic counterpart. “We are in contact to clearly define the timeline for its organization and to ensure that the meeting is as meaningful as possible.”

Trump’s arrival in the White House on Jan. 20 injects another measure of uncertainty into how the almost 3-year-old war might unfold and whether it can end in the foreseeable future.

Ukraine relies on Western — and especially U.S. — military backing to keep fighting. But Trump has criticized the billions of dollars the Biden administration has spent on Ukraine. He has also said he could end the war in 24 hours, though he hasn’t elaborated on how he might do that.

Ukrainian officials are eager to sway Trump on sticking with Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised Trump’s “strength” and said the American president’s “unpredictability” could work in Ukraine’s favor.

Ukrainians have expressed hope tinged with pragmatism about Trump’s election victory last November.

The war is draining the resources of both sides, though military analysts say the conflict is less sustainable for smaller Ukraine, and the war’s recent trajectory has not been in its favor.

Its undermanned army is under strain on the front line, especially in eastern areas, though Ukrainian officials say its 5-month-long incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region shows that Russia is vulnerable.

Ukrainian forces are clinging on to their diminishing defenses in the eastern stronghold of Kurakhove, where Russian attackers have recently pushed forward after a monthslong battle, a military official said Tuesday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Monday its units had taken Kurakhove.

Defending troops are holding their positions on the town’s western outskirts, as Russian forces pummel urban areas in a tactic they have used across eastern and southern Ukraine, according to Viktor Trehubov, the local Ukrainian army spokesperson.

“The situation in Kurakhove is currently very difficult because a significant part of the city has been destroyed,” Trehubov told Ukrainian television.

When a town is completely destroyed, it becomes impossible to hold it because there are no viable defensive positions left.

“Any building can serve as a fortification, but if there are no buildings, if it’s just scorched earth, it’s impossible to hold the defense,” Trehubov said.

AP journalist Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir attends a flower laying ceremony at the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, left, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriiy Sybiha at the entrance of St. Michael Monastery in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, left, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriiy Sybiha attend a flower laying ceremony at the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, left, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriiy Sybiha look at fragments of Russian rocket in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Iceland's Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, left, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriiy Sybiha stand at the entrance of St. Michael Monastery in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian missile attack on the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least 13 civilians and injured dozens Wednesday, a local official said.

Footage posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel showed civilians lying in a city street littered with debris. They were being treated by emergency services.

Regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said the attack killed at least 13 civilians. Minutes before the attack, he had warned of a threat of “high-speed missiles” and “glide bombs” being fired at Zaporizhzhia region.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian military said Wednesday that it struck a fuel storage depot deep inside Russia, causing a huge blaze at the facility that supplies an important Russian air base.

Russian officials acknowledged a major drone attack in the area, and said that authorities had set up an emergency command center to fight the fire.

Ukraine’s General Staff said that the assault hit the storage facility near Engels, in Russia’s Saratov region, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) east of the Ukrainian border. The depot supplied a nearby airfield used by aircraft that launch missiles across the border into Ukraine, a statement on Facebook said.

Ukraine has been developing its arsenal of domestically produced long-range missiles and drones capable of reaching deep behind the front line as it faces restrictions on the range that its military can fire its Western-supplied missiles into Russia.

The attacks have disrupted Russian logistics in the almost three-year war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, and embarrassed the Kremlin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last year that his country has developed a weapon that could hit a target 700 kilometers (400 miles) away. Some Ukrainian drone attacks have hit targets more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away.

The governor of the Saratov region, Roman Busargin, said that an unspecified industrial plant in Engels sustained damage from the falling drone debris that sparked a fire, but nobody was hurt.

Engels, which has a population of more than 220,000, is located on the left bank of the Volga River, and is home to multiple industrial plants. Saratov, a major industrial city of about 900,000, faces Engels across the river.

“The damage to the oil base creates serious logistical problems for the strategic aviation of the Russian occupiers and significantly reduces their ability to strike peaceful Ukrainian cities and civilian objects. To be continued,” the statement from Ukraine’s General Staff said.

Russian authorities restricted flights early Wednesday at the airports of Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Kazan and Nizhnekamsk, in an apparent response to the Ukrainian attack.

The main base of Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers is located just outside Engels. It has come under Ukrainian drone attacks since the early stages of the war, forcing the Russian military to relocate most of the bombers to other areas.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo released by Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin telegram channel on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin, right, speaks to firefighters and rescuers at the industrial side damaged after Ukrainian drones' attack in Saratov, Russia. (Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin telegram channel via AP)

In this photo released by Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin telegram channel on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin, second right, speaks to firefighters and rescuers at the industrial side damaged after Ukrainian drones' attack in Saratov, Russia. (Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin telegram channel via AP)

In this photo released by Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin telegram channel on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, Firefighters and rescuers work at the industrial side damaged after Ukrainian drones' attack in Saratov, Russia. (Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin telegram channel via AP)