Ukraine has confirmed it struck five ships carrying illegal cargo in the Sea of Azov and in coastal waters of Russian-occupied territories, according to BBC. The Ukrainian drone forces commander said the vessels were involved in ‘stealing’ Ukrainian grain, as well as transferring military cargo and fuel.

Ukraine Offers Peace Talks, Russia Rejects

The strikes come a day after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky offered face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin on ending the war, an offer the Russian leader rejected while visiting St Petersburg for an economic forum. Zelensky wrote alongside his latest offer of peace talks that Russians had become tired of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks, petrol shortages, and rising prices that the war, now in its fifth year, had brought.

Confirming Romania Drone Blast

Meanwhile, Ukraine has confirmed one of its naval drones exploded off Romania’s coast on Friday. No injuries were reported in the blast. The country’s defence ministry said the drone had self-detonated near an oil terminal without causing any casualties, although authorities have said it caused considerable damage to a ship and warehouses.

Adrian Teodor Picoiu, Constanta’s top official, told G4Media that ‘information from the Ukrainian side’ was that the drone was part of a group of five, with a second one exploding in Ukraine. Ukraine later confirmed one of its naval drones had been involved, saying it had been knocked off course by Russian electronic interference. Moscow has yet to comment.

Victims and Casualties

In Ukraine, at least 13 people have been killed and more than 70 others have been injured in the past day, according to local officials. Among them are four people who died after Russian drones struck a dairy factory outside the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, according to the regional head, and a 35-year-old woman in a drone attack on a petrol station in Kherson, local officials said.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry confirmed five of its citizens had been killed in attacks on two of the vessels in the Sea of Azov. It did not specify who had been behind the attacks and noted that the ships did not belong to Azerbaijan. Earlier, Robert Brovdi, Ukraine’s drone commander, announced that five ‘illegally loitering vessels’ had been struck overnight in the ports of Mariupol, Berdyansk and in the coastal waters of what Ukraine calls the ‘temporarily occupied territories’ – parts of the country that Russia currently controls.

He said the names of the five ships, which included cargo vessels and tankers, were painted over and their radars were turned off ‘with the aim of quietly stealing Ukrainian grain’, as well as ‘transferring military cargo and fuel’. The Azeri foreign ministry named two of the ships as the Nastra and the Circon. Brovdi did not mention any deaths.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan wrote on X that it was the second ‘significant security incident this week’, after a stray mine was discovered on a beach near the village of Vama Veche, more than 50km (31 miles) north of Constanta. It also comes a week after two people were injured when a drone hit a Romanian apartment block in the eastern city of Galati – close to the border with Ukraine.

Romanian officials said they had confirmed it was a Russian drone but Moscow said ‘accusations’ of its involvement were ‘unsubstantiated’. Zelensky told Putin in an open letter that it would be ‘wrong to simply wait’ until the war in Europe became the focus of US attention once more, adding peace could only come ‘through direct engagement’. He also called for a full ceasefire for the duration of proposed negotiations – something Putin ruled out earlier on Thursday.

The Kremlin confirmed it had received the letter. Putin said on Friday that he currently saw no reason to meet Zelensky. The Russian president has previously said compromises would be needed for peace to be achieved. His longstanding position has been that Ukraine should withdraw from four regions largely occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – and give up its efforts to join Nato. Ukraine has ruled out ceding territory, saying it would embolden Russia to invade again, as it had in 2022 when it launched its full-scale war eight years after illegally annexing Crimea.

The EU, France and the US are among those that have backed Zelensky’s calls for a meeting.