3 people killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia despite truce talks

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing three people and wounded 14, Ukrainian officials said Saturday, despite agreeing to a limited ceasefire.

Zaporizhzhia was hit by 12 drones, police said. Regional head Ivan Fedorov said that residential buildings, cars and communal buildings were set on fire in the Friday night attack. Photos showed emergency services scouring the rubble for survivors.

Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders, though it remains to be seen what possible targets would be off-limits to attack.

The three sides appeared to hold starkly different views about what the deal covered. While the White House said “energy and infrastructure” would be part of the agreement, the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would also like railways and ports to be protected.

The dead in Zaporizhzhia were three members of one family. The bodies of the daughter and father were pulled out from under the rubble while doctors unsuccessfully fought for the mother’s life for more than 10 hours, Fedorov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired a total of 179 drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday. It said 100 were intercepted and a further 63 lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

Officials in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions also reported fires breaking out due to the falling debris from intercepted drones.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down 47 Ukrainian drones.

Local authorities said two people were injured and there was damage to six apartments when a Ukrainian drone hit a high-rise apartment block in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Friday night.

Zelenskyy told reporters after Wednesday’s call with Trump that Ukraine and U.S. negotiators will discuss technical details related to the partial ceasefire during a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Monday. Russian negotiators are also set to hold separate talks with U.S. officials there.

Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine is open to a full, 30-day ceasefire that Trump has proposed, saying: “We will not be against any format, any steps toward unconditional ceasefire.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a complete ceasefire conditional on a halt of arms supplies to Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine’s military mobilization — demands rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies.

Kremlin spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Saturday that Ukraine was continuing with “treacherous attacks” on energy infrastructure facilities, and that Russia reserved the right to a “symmetrical” response.

Her comments came after Russia accused Ukrainian forces Friday of blowing up a gas metering station near the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region. Ukraine’s military General Staff rejected Moscow’s accusations and blamed the Russian military for shelling the station as part of Russia’s “discrediting campaign.”

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

Rescuers work on site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential house destroyed by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential house destroyed by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

A clock with a family photo is seen among debris of a residential house destroyed by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Police officers carry the body of a person killed by a Russian drone strike in a residential neighborhood in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters try to put out a fire following a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Rescuers work on site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential house destroyed by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential house destroyed by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

A clock with a family photo is seen among debris of a residential house destroyed by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Police officers carry the body of a person killed by a Russian drone strike in a residential neighborhood in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu strode calmly into a Paris courthouse on Monday to stand trial over accusations that he sexually assaulted two women during the filming of a movie in 2021.

The case is seen as a potential watershed for the #MeToo movement in France. Depardieu, 76, is facing charges that he groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant director during production of the film “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”). The actor denies any wrongdoing.

“We will be able to show in an impartial, objective and incontestable manner that all of the accusations are lies,” his attorney, Jérémie Assous, told journalists massed outside the courtroom.

“The truth will be obvious and the truth is on our side,” he said.

Prosecutors allege the assaults included obscene remarks and inappropriate touching, including an incident in which Depardieu allegedly used his legs to trap one of the women before groping her in front of other crew members.

The Associated Press doesn’t name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to being identified. Neither has in this case.

The two-day trial was initially scheduled for October but was postponed because of Depardieu’s health. A verdict is expected at a later date.

Assous previously said the actor had undergone a quadruple heart bypass and has diabetes. A court-appointed medical expert determined that he’s fit to stand trial. He is expected to attend the hearing, reportedly with scheduled breaks.

Carine Durrieu Diebolt, the lawyer for one of the two plaintiffs, said on France Info radio that her client “is calmly awaiting the outcome of the case ... because the case is solid.”

Durrieu Diebolt said four additional women who say they have been sexually assaulted by Depardieu will speak at the trial.

This is the first time that Depardieu, one of France’s most prominent film actors, has been tried over sexual assault allegations. He has previously been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but no other case has proceeded to court. Some were dropped because of a lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.

In a separate case, French actor Charlotte Arnould accused Depardieu of two rapes allegedly committed in August 2018. Depardieu was charged in 2020 with rape and sexual assault in that case, and in August prosecutors requested it go to trial. A magistrate has yet to make the decision.

In an open letter published in Le Figaro in October 2023, Depardieu wrote: “Never, but never, have I abused a woman.”

Before the opening of the trial, activists gathered outside the courthouse. A dozen from the “Bruit qui court" collective performed a choreographed dance to techno music while chanting: “Sexist violence, complicit judicial system.”

Depardieu had dropped out of sight in recent months, his film career seemingly on hold. But he still has friends in the industry. Actors Vincent Perez and Fanny Ardant were among those who took seats on his side of the courtroom.

Associated Press writer Thomas Adamson contributed to this report.

Actor Gerard Depardieu arrives with his lawyer Jeremie Assous, right, to face trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Actor Gerard Depardieu, center, who is facing trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, arrives Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Actor Gerard Depardieu, center, who is facing trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, arrives with his lawyer Jeremie Assous, right, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Actor Gerard Depardieu, left, arrives with his lawyer Jeremie Assous to face trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Actor Gerard Depardieu arrives to face trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Actor Anouk Grinberg, left, enters the courtroom as actor Gerard Depardieu faces trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Actor Charlotte Arnould, center, arrives at the courtroom, while Depardieu, who is facing trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, arrives Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Actor Anouk Grinberg answers reporters outside the courtroom before actor Gerard Depardieu faces trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Women demonstrate outside the palace of justice where actor Gerard Depardieu faces trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

A woman holds a poster reading "Rapists, we see you" outside the palace of justice where actor Gerard Depardieu faces trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Actor Gerard Depardieu, center, who is facing trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, arrives with his lawyer Jeremie Assous, right, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Actor Gerard Depardieu, center, who is facing trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, arrives Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Actor Gerard Depardieu arrives to face trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

FILE - Actor Gerard Depardieu attends the premiere of the movie "Tour de France" in Paris, France, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

FILE - Actor Gerard Depardieu addresses the media during the press conference for the film 'Saint Amour' at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt, File)