Ukraine and Russia exchange heavy attacks a day before peace talks

Peace talks will resume in Türkiye on Monday with Russian and Ukrainian delegations, but after a weekend of heightened hostilities.

Ukraine conducted one of the biggest drone battles of the conflict, a Russian highway bridge was blown up over a passenger train and there was an ambitious attack on nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia.

After days of uncertainty over whether or not Ukraine would even attend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would sit down with Russian officials at the second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul.

Russia is yet to announce its official team, but Sergey Lavrov, the country's Foreign Minister led last month's talks.

At this stage both sides' respective leaders will not attend Monday's talks, despite Zelenskyy doubling down on his call for an in-person meeting.

Among the Ukrainian President's requests as part of the peace negotiations is a 30-day ceasefire and the return of all prisoners held by each side. 

Ukraine says it's still waiting on a memorandum from Russia, but border lines are likely a sticking point with Russia occupying and controlling around 20 percent of Ukraine territory.

So far, the first round of peace negotiations yielded the biggest prisoner exchange of the conflict since its dawn in 2022. 

In the past two days both sides have reported escalations, intensifying military actions ahead of the peace talks. 

Ukraine completed one of its heaviest offences yet, targeting more than 40 Russian bomber planes amounting to a potential $2 billion blow to the Russian air force. 

Ukraine says the drones were smuggled deep inside Russia and until now, attacks have largely been aimed at key regions along the border. 

And in another hit for Russia, at least seven people and many more were injured in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions after two bridges collapsed overnight.

Drone attack

It's being investigated as a potential terrorist attack - authorities are currently attributing the incident to explosions. 

Meanwhile, Russia launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine overnight, but 382 were shot down - the highest nightly total of conflict so far. 

The prospects for a resolution remains uncertain with Türkiye positioning itself as the mediator for the two countries. 

U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Russia and Ukraine make peace and he has threatened to walk away if they do not - potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers.