Ukraine: Exiled Kyiv political aide hospitalised after second car bomb blast

Moscow car explosion investigated

Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Friday that it had opened an investigation into a car explosion in Moscow. Russian media reported that the vehicle belonged to an exiled Ukrainian political aide.

Kommersant reported that Zavorotniy was taken to hospital. The incident adds to a series of apparent assassination attempts inside Russia, according to the report.

Other blast in St Petersburg

On Thursday, a member of the Russian military was killed when the car he was driving exploded in St Petersburg, investigators said. The Moscow incident is the second car bomb reported in Russia in two days. The supplied account does not give further details about the Moscow explosion or the condition of the aide beyond the report that he was hospitalised.

Peace talks and prisoner exchange

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Abu Dhabi this week, in their first direct discussions in nine months. The talks ended without a major breakthrough, but the sides agreed to a large-scale prisoner exchange; the number of people involved has not been announced.

US envoy Steve Witkoff said Vladimir Putin agreed to allow European representatives to join the next round of peace talks. Witkoff also ruled out agreement to foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.

Attacks hit Ukrainian energy

Russian strikes overnight damaged energy infrastructure and caused power outages in 12 Ukrainian regions, deputy energy minister Artem Nekrasov said on Friday. He said ongoing attacks and air-raid alerts were slowing repairs.

Separately, local reports said Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery in Volgograd and a production facility in Rostov-on-Don. The Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka refinery caught fire, according to the account.