Zelenskyy Hosts Carpathian Eight Summit as Strikes Continue — SkimNews
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- Zelenskyy convened the first Carpathian Eight summit on Friday with leaders from Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and the EU, focusing on security, energy, logistics, cross-border ties and local communities
- The summit came as US-mediated peace efforts on Russia's 4½-year full-scale invasion remained stalled, with territorial concessions in eastern Ukraine a key sticking point and Ukraine still seeking security guarantees from partners
- Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported two people killed and two injured in Russian overnight strikes in the Zhytomyr region west of Kyiv, where warehouse and production buildings caught fire and rescuers pulled back during repeated air raid alerts
- A Russian drone strike on Zaporizhzhia destroyed a shopping complex, injured one person and triggered a fire, while Russia's military separately said it struck a bulk carrier in Chornomorsk port and a Nova Poshta logistics facility 6km northwest of Odesa used for military cargo from Europe
- Russia's Defence Ministry claimed it intercepted and destroyed 629 Ukrainian drones overnight across 14 Russian regions plus annexed Crimea and the Azov and Black seas
- Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 350 drones were headed toward the capital, with 64 shot down as they approached the city; in the southern Rostov region, residential buildings were damaged but Governor Yuri Slyusar reported no casualties
Why it matters: The summit exposes a lopsided coalition — Poland and Romania back Kyiv militarily, while Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia refuse direct military aid — and the overnight exchange of 629 intercepted Ukrainian drones and fresh strikes on Zhytomyr and Zaporizhzhia shows neither side is pausing attacks during the diplomatic push, limiting what 'regional cooperation' can actually deliver.
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