KYIV, Ukraine, May 17, (AP): A Russian drone struck a passenger bus in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday, killing nine people and injuring four others, Ukrainian officials said. The attack came just hours after Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct peace talks in years which failed to yield a ceasefire. Ukraine’s national police released photos showing the aftermath of the strike in Sumy’s Bilopillia city, around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the front line and border with Russia.

The Associated Press could not independently verify details of the strike and there was no comment from Moscow. "This is another war crime by Russia - a deliberate strike on civilian transport that posed no threat,” the Sumy regional administration said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. A period of mourning has been declared in Bilopillia from Saturday through Monday, with local community chief Yurii Zarko calling the day of the attack "Black Saturday.”

The local media outlet Suspilne said the passengers on the bus were being evacuated from Bilopillia when the strike occurred. Authorities are working to identify some of the victims, most of them elderly women. The injured were taken to a hospital in Sumy, the regional capital. Three people were reported to be in serious condition. It wasn't immediately clear how the strike would affect peace efforts.

On Friday, Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkey in an attempt to reach a temporary ceasefire, but the talks ended after less than two hours without a breakthrough. It was the first face-to-face dialogue between the two sides since the early weeks of Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And while both sides agreed on a large prisoner swap, they clearly remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting.

One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement. The Kremlin has pushed back against such a truce, which remains elusive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and Poland. In a post on X from a European leadership meeting in Albania, he urged "tough sanctions” against Moscow if it rejects "a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings.”