Russian troops enter Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine; Trump envoy says peace talks ongoing
Kyiv, Ukraine – Russian troops have for the first time entered a Ukrainian key region, kyiv’s army announced on Wednesday, while President Donald Trump’s special envoy offered new details on Kremlin’s requests and stressed that the U.S. Peace push remained on the right track.
A small number of Moscow forces had entered the Dnipropetrovsk region and entered two villages, confirmed the Ukrainian army at NBC News, although he denied that Russia has obtained a stable position in the central region.
“They failed to get started because they have been pushed back. Although the fights are now taking place in the immediate vicinity,” Ukrainian military spokesman Viktor Tryhubov said on Wednesday.
“They are constantly trying to cross the administrative border, to go to these colonies, but there is no stable control over these colonies,” added Tryhubov.
He referred to two villages, Zaporizke and Nonoheorhivka, who had fallen under Russian control, according to the Ukrainian group Deepstate which follows the developments of the battlefield. The Moscow Ministry of Defense had previously claimed the capture of the two villages.
NBC News is not able to independently check the claims of the battlefield.
The situation in Dnipropetrovsk remains fluid, practiced Tryhubov.
Russia soldiers have prompted gains there during the summer while President Donald Trump sought a breakthrough to end the war, although his peace efforts have stalled in recent days.
The region is bordered to the east by Donetsk, of which large expanses are currently held by Russia. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said that this region with Ukraine’s industrial heart is what the Kremlin has its eyes on any peace regulations.
Witkoff told Fox News on Tuesday evening that the Kremlin had presented a peace proposal involving Donetsk. But he conceded that “maybe not something that the Ukrainians can take”.
The Russian Defense Ministry said a few hours later that he had captured another colony in the Donetsk region, where intense battles are underway.
However, Witkoff, who said he would meet Ukrainian officials this week in New York, remained optimistic. “It’s a big signal,” he said on “a special relationship with Bret Baier.”
“I think we can end up seeing a bilateral meeting,” he said, adding that in the end, he thought that Trump could “be necessary at the table to conclude an agreement”.
Trump himself was seemed less certain earlier this week on the possibility of a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the Kremlin threw a new doubt on the process on Wednesday.
“We consider these discussions negatively,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, rejecting the idea that Russia would accept the presence of European troops on the territory of its neighbor as part of the security guarantees developed for Ukraine.
Peskov praised the summit “very substantial, constructive, useful and necessary” between Putin and Trump in Alaska, but said that it was not useful to negotiate in public.
He reiterated that there is no date scheduled for any summit between Russian and Ukrainian leaders. “The heads of the negotiation teams remain in contact,” Peskov told journalists in his daily briefing. Any other high-level contact “must be well prepared in order to produce significant results,” he said.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Ukraine and its allies “accelerate the process of defining details” of security guarantees in talks involving “military commanders, defense ministers and security advisers”.
But, he said in an article on X, “unfortunately, the Russians are currently sending negative signals concerning meetings and additional developments.”
In addition to diplomatic tensions, Ukraine is also faced with continuous Russian attacks.
Nearly 100 drones were launched overnight and hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing current failures in Poltava, Sumy and Chernihiv, said Zelenskyy in a separate article on X.
“New steps are necessary to increase the pressure on Russia to stop attacks and ensure real security guarantees,” said Zelenskyy.
Ukraine has itself targeted the Russian energy sector, hitting refineries and other infrastructure in a campaign targeting Putin’s economy.
The service stations have been dry in certain regions, with motorist reports awaiting long pipes and low-cost supplies while prices are increasing.
Dyna Mayer reported kyiv and Mithil Aggarwal from Hong Kong.
