Nine killed, 4 wounded in Russian drone strike on civilian bus in northern Ukraine

At least nine people were killed and four others wounded after a Russian drone targeted a civilian bus in Ukraine's northern Sumy region on Saturday, according to local authorities.

The Sumy regional military administration, in a statement on Telegram, described the incident as a “cynical attack” on civilians. “Unfortunately, as a result of a cynical attack by Russians on a bus with civilians, there are dead,” it said.

The bus, which was attacked near the city of Bilopillya while travelling towards Sumy, was "targeted by the Russians", the military administration said.

Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks

The blast came hours after Russia and Ukraine concluded their first direct talks in almost three years in Istanbul on Friday, but without a significant breakthrough.

The two sides agreed a large-scale prisoner exchange but no ceasefire, saying instead that they would commit to trading ideas on a possible truce.

After the talks, Kyiv said it was seeking an "unconditional ceasefire" to pause the conflict, which has destroyed and displaced millions of people.

But Moscow has consistently rebuffed those calls and the only concrete agreement appeared to be a deal to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.

Ukraine's top negotiator, defence minister Rustem Umerov, said that the “next step” would be a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Both Moscow and Washington have also talked up the need for a meeting on the conflict between Putin and US President Donald Trump.