A Russian drone strike hit a bus carrying miners in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Sunday, killing at least 12 people.

Ukrainian emergency services later reported the death toll had risen to 15 in one of the deadliest single attacks on energy workers since the start of the war. 

The attack Sunday came a few hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a new round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia had been postponed.

A spokesperson for DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, which employed the workers, told Fox News Digital that drones had targeted the bus as it traveled "roughly 40 miles from the front line in central and eastern Ukraine."

The DTEK spokesperson also described the incident as a "terrorist attack on civilian infrastructure."

"This strike was a targeted terrorist attack against civilians and another crime by Russia against critical infrastructure," the spokesperson added.

RUSSIA UNLEASHES MAJOR DRONE, MISSILE ATTACK ON UKRAINE AS US DIPLOMATIC TALKS CONTINUE

The bus was transporting miners after the end of their shift when it was hit by a Russian drone, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine also confirmed.

At least seven workers were injured, and a fire sparked by the impact was later extinguished by emergency crews.

"The epicenter of one of the attacks was a company bus transporting miners from the enterprise after a shift in the Dnipropetrovsk region," the company also said in a statement.

Zelenskyy condemned the strike late Sunday, calling it another deliberate attack on civilians.

RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE PEACE TALKS 'PROCEEDING CONSTRUCTIVELY,' AS KREMLIN LAUNCHES DEADLY STRIKE ON ODESA

Earlier in the day, he announced that the next round of trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. would now take place Feb. 4-5 in Abu Dhabi, after originally being expected for Sunday.

"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war," Zelenskyy said on X, adding that the delay had been agreed to by all sides.

The delay followed a surprise meeting Saturday in Florida between Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s special envoy and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.

The talks in Abu Dhabi are now expected to include representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S., according to The Associated Press.

UKRAINE RACES TO BOLSTER AIR DEFENSES AS PUTIN’S STRIKE PAUSE NEARS END

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy warned Russia is stepping up its aerial campaign against civilian and logistical targets. 

"Over the past week, Russia has used more than 980 attack drones, nearly 1,100 guided aerial bombs, and two missiles against Ukraine," he wrote on X on Sunday. "We are recording Russian attempts to destroy logistics and connectivity between cities and communities."

In a statement, DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko also explained the bus attack marked the company’s "single largest loss [of] life of DTEK employees since Russia's full-scale invasion."

"We can already say with certainty that this was an unprovoked terrorist attack on a purely civilian target, for which there can be no justification," Timchenko said.

The attack marked "one of the darkest days in our history," he added. "DTEK teams are working with emergency services on the ground in Dnipropetrovsk region to ensure the injured, and families who have lost loved ones, get all the care and support they need. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that a new round of talks involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia will take place this week, as Kyiv presses for progress toward ending the war while Moscow continues strikes across the country.

Writing on X, Zelenskyy said the meetings are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war," Zelenskyy wrote.

The announcement comes as Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine’s energy and logistics infrastructure, worsening conditions for civilians as winter temperatures plunge.

US ACCUSES RUSSIA OF 'DANGEROUS AND INEXPLICABLE ESCALATION' IN UKRAINE WAR DURING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

Ukrainian officials say Moscow has repeatedly targeted power grids, heating and water systems throughout the nearly four-year war, a campaign Kyiv has described as an effort to use winter conditions as a weapon against the civilian population.

Authorities warned that Ukraine is facing one of its coldest stretches of the season, with temperatures in some areas expected to fall as low as minus-22 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

President Donald Trump said late last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to temporarily halt strikes on Kyiv and other cities amid the extreme cold.

ZELENSKYY SAYS US SECURITY GUARANTEES DOCUMENT IS '100% READY' FOR SIGNING

"I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this… extraordinary cold," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, adding that Putin had "agreed to that."

The White House has not provided details on the timing or scope of the pause, and Ukrainian officials have expressed skepticism about Russia’s intentions.

Zelenskyy said Thursday that key obstacles to a peace agreement remain unresolved, including the future of occupied Ukrainian territory and Moscow’s demands for land it has not captured.

Russia struck Ukrainian energy facilities in several regions on Thursday, Zelenskyy said, though he noted that no such strikes occurred overnight. He added that Russian drones and missiles have continued to hit residential areas and logistics hubs across Ukraine.

Trump has described Putin’s acceptance of a pause as a concession, but Zelenskyy questioned whether Moscow is genuinely interested in ending the war as the invasion approaches its fourth anniversary on Feb. 24.

"I do not believe that Russia wants to end the war. There is a great deal of evidence to the contrary," Zelenskyy said Thursday.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said he had "productive and constructive meetings" with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev as part of the Trump administration's ongoing effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

"We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine and is grateful for [the president's] critical leadership in seeking a durable and lasting peace," Witkoff wrote on X.

During a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Witkoff said progress had been made and that there had been "lots of good things happening between the counterparties discussing the land deal."

"I think the people of Ukraine are now hopeful and expecting that we're going to deliver a peace deal sometime soon," Witkoff added.

TRUMP SAYS PUTIN AGREED TO HALT KYIV STRIKES FOR ONE WEEK AMID BRUTAL COLD

The meetings were held Saturday in Florida, according to Witkoff, and included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and White House senior advisor Josh Gruenbaum. Witkoff and Kushner have been two of the key players from the Trump administration not only in the Russia-Ukraine deal, but also others, including the Israel-Gaza peace plan.

Witkoff, Kushner and Gruenbaum also met with Putin earlier this month in Moscow shortly after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. After the meeting in Moscow, Witkoff, Kushner, Gruenbaum and other U.S. representatives met with negotiators from Ukraine and Russia. The talks were said to be constructive despite obstacles to peace remaining.

"A lot was discussed, and it is important that the conversations were constructive," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X. "As a result of the meetings held over these days, all sides agreed to report back in their capitals on each aspect of the negotiations and to coordinate further steps with their leaders."

ZELENSKYY TOUTS ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ TRILATERAL TALKS BETWEEN THE US, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE IN ABU DHABI

Nearly four years after Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion, Ukrainians are facing a brutal winter, and Russian strikes on Kyiv's energy resources have made conditions worse. However, President Donald Trump said Thursday at his Cabinet meeting that Putin had agreed to a temporary pause in targeting Kyiv and other places in the region experiencing the frigid weather.

"And because of the cold, extreme cold — they have the same that we do — I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week," Trump said, adding that Putin had "agreed to do that." The president classified the weather in the region as being "record-setting cold."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Trump had made the request for Putin to stop targeting Kyiv until Feb. 1 "in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations," The Associated Press reported. The outlet noted it was odd that the Kremlin spokesperson mentioned Feb. 1, as it would mean it was only a two-day pause. Additionally, the AP reported that the cold weather forecast is expected to get worse after Sunday.

Russia and Ukraine will hold another round of peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi Sunday, according to The Kyiv Independent. However, it is unclear whether the U.S. will participate in the talks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday described recent trilateral talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi as "constructive," saying the meetings marked the first format of their kind in some time and focused on potential parameters for ending Moscow’s war.

Zelenskyy said the talks, which were hosted by the United Arab Emirates over two days, involved political and military representatives from all three sides and addressed security-related issues, including the need for American monitoring and oversight.

"A lot was discussed, and it is important that the conversations were constructive," he wrote on X, noting the delegations could have further meetings as early as next week. "As a result of the meetings held over these days, all sides agreed to report back in their capitals on each aspect of the negotiations and to coordinate further steps with their leaders."

The Abu Dhabi talks followed a meeting in Moscow on Thursday between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum, the head of the Federal Acquisition Service.

RUSSIA ALLEGES ATTACK ON PUTIN RESIDENCE AS UKRAINE DENIES CLAIM AHEAD OF TRUMP TALKS

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the "extremely frank" discussions lasted roughly four hours and included U.S. officials updating Moscow on their recent conversations with Ukrainian and European leaders.

"Importantly, the participants in the conversation between the President of Russia and the Americans reaffirmed the fact that bringing about a lasting settlement would be unlikely without addressing the territorial issue based on the formula as agreed in Anchorage," Ushakov said, according to a summary of the meeting from the Kremlin.

Territorial issues remain a key obstacle in the negotiations, with Moscow pressing Kyiv to relinquish parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russian forces do not fully control.

RUSSIA, UKRAINE TO DISCUSS TERRITORY AS TRUMP SAYS BOTH SIDES ‘WANT TO MAKE A DEAL’

The diplomatic efforts come as Russia continues its strikes across Ukraine, targeting the country’s energy sector, critical infrastructure and residential areas.

UKRAINE-RUSSIA AT A CROSSROADS: HOW THE WAR EVOLVED IN 2025 AND WHAT COMES NEXT

Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russian forces launched more than 1,700 attack drones, over 1,380 guided aerial bombs and 69 missiles in the past week alone.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said ahead of the trilateral talks that it was deploying 447 emergency generators to help restore power to hospitals, shelters and critical services, as more than one million Ukrainians face outages amid freezing temperatures.

"The EU will not let Russia freeze Ukraine into submission and will continue helping Ukrainians get through this winter," the commission said.

The U.S., Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to discuss one of the major sticking points stopping a deal to end the nearly four-year war: territorial disputes. The talks in Abu Dhabi are the first trilateral talks since 2022.

The trilateral sit-down comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump in Davos and Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Witkoff and Kushner traveled to the UAE for the talks after their meeting with Putin in Moscow on Thursday.

ZELENSKYY BLASTS GLOBAL INACTION ON IRAN, CLAIMS EUROPE STUCK IN ‘GREENLAND MODE’

Zelenskyy and Putin are under increasing pressure to reach a peace deal as the fourth anniversary of Moscow's invasion approaches and President Donald Trump pushes to end the war.

While Russia has demanded Ukraine cede the Donbas, Zelenskyy has stood firm in his opposition to making land concessions, though the discussions in Abu Dhabi suggest that he could be ready to negotiate. Putin is demanding Ukraine surrender the 20% it holds of the Donetsk region of the Donbas, according to Reuters.

UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR SAYS PEACE TALKS ARE ‘GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION,’ TRILATERAL TALKS PLANNED IN UAE

"The question of Donbas is key. It will be discussed how the three sides... see this in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow," Zelenskyy told reporters via WhatsApp, according to Reuters. The outlet added that an aide for Zelenskyy said the talks are expected to continue Saturday.

The envoys are meeting as Ukrainians face below-freezing temperatures after Russian strikes damaged the country's power supply.

Maxim Timchenko, the head of Ukraine's top private power producer, told Reuters that the situation was nearing a "humanitarian catastrophe."

While speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Trump was asked if the trilateral meeting could lead to one with himself, Putin and Zelenskyy. He would not commit but said that "any time we meet, it's good." He also expressed doubts about whether Putin wanted to take over all of Ukraine.

"What's happened here is there were times when Putin didn't want to make a deal, times when Zelenskyy didn't want to make a deal, and it was opposite times. Now, I think they both want to make a deal. We'll find out," Trump said.

The president also acknowledged that the topics of the discussions that were happening had been debated for months.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin received an invitation to join his new Board of Peace that will supervise the next phase of the Gaza peace plan.

Trump confirmed Putin's invitation while speaking to reporters at the College Football National Championship Game in Florida, where Indiana defeated Miami.

"Yeah, he’s been invited," Trump told reporters.

SIX COUNTRIES CONFIRM US INVITATIONS TO GAZA PEACE BOARD

The Kremlin said earlier on Monday that Putin had received the invitation, adding that it is now "studying the details" and will seek clarity of "all the nuances" in communications with the U.S. government.

France has also received an invitation but does not plan to join the Board of Peace "at this stage," a French official close to President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

The French official said the issue is raising questions, particularly with regard to respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations.

Asked at the championship game about Macron being unlikely to join, Trump took jabs at his French counterpart and threatened tariffs for refusing to accept the invitation.

"Well, nobody wants him because he's going to be out of office very soon," Trump said of Macron.

"I'll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he'll join," he added. "But he doesn't have to join."

LINDSEY GRAHAM MEETS WITH MOSSAD DIRECTOR DURING TRIP TO ISRAEL

Several other countries have also received invitations, including Israel, Canada, Belarus, Slovenia and Thailand.

Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Hungary and Argentina have already accepted invitations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Russia is preparing to target Europe's biggest nuclear power plant's power lines in a move that could unfold within days, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Ukrainian officials had said Moscow's plan was focused on high-voltage transmission infrastructure rather than direct strikes on nuclear reactors, but a source has since claimed the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lines (ZNPP) are Moscow’s focus.

In a statement released Jan. 17, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry (HUR) had warned that Russia was weighing attacks on substations critical to nuclear power generation.

"In order to force Ukraine to sign unacceptable surrender demands to end the war, the aggressor state Russia is considering the option of attacking strategic facilities of our state's energy system — we are talking about electricity transmission substations that ensure the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants."

US ACCUSES RUSSIA OF 'DANGEROUS AND INEXPLICABLE ESCALATION' IN UKRAINE WAR DURING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

"The threat is at ZNPP," a source told Fox News Digital. "There are talks of a massive attack either tonight or in the coming nights," the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that "the talks within the Ukrainian government are about ZNPP and the lines, and these talks have not been for the first time."

According to The Associated Press, Russia also targeted energy infrastructure in Odesa region overnight Sunday, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.

ZNPP is located in southern Ukraine and consists of six VVER-1000 pressurized water reactors, and has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, according to reports.

Although the reactors are no longer producing electricity, the plant needs external power to maintain cooling and safety systems. 

The IAEA has repeatedly warned that disruptions to off-site power supplies and lines pose a serious nuclear safety risk.

A Jan. 16 localized ceasefire was agreed between Russia and Ukraine for repairs under IAEA coordination on one backup power line at ZNPP that had already been damaged.

In a statement, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Jan. 16: "The IAEA continues to work closely with both sides to ensure nuclear safety at the ZNPP and to prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict. This temporary ceasefire, the fourth we have negotiated, demonstrates the indispensable role that we continue to play."

"A deterioration of Ukraine’s power grid from persistent military activity has direct implications on the nuclear safety of its nuclear facilities," Grossi said.

"Russia is said to be going to do this strike, maybe even tonight," the source said of the ZNPP operation.

RUSSIA FIRES NEW BALLISTIC MISSILE AT UKRAINE, KILLING AT LEAST FOUR

"Information also from the Ukrainian Parliament and Ukrainian Security Service, or internally, is that the Russian army told the Ukrainian army that if they don't stop shelling their tankers in the sea or shelling their oil refineries, as well as their electric stations like power stations," the source said, "then they will fully destroy Kyiv energy facilities aswell."

"The parliament knows this. But we keep shelling," the source added.

"This is a very difficult situation," the source continued, saying Ukrainian leadership, the Ukrainian parliament and "obviously the office of the president" are fully aware that "if we keep shelling Russian tankers and oil refineries, then they will destroy everything that we have."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also recently urged NATO allies to urgently deliver additional air-defense missiles, warning that some systems are running low on ammunition, according to reports.

"To actually preserve the energy in the country when it is minus 20 outside and people are literally suffering hugely," the source added. "People don't have electricity, don't have warmth and some don't even have water."

"And this is a very controversial situation," the source said, "particularly for the Ukrainian people sitting inside, hungry and freezing, and overall being in this disastrous humanitarian situation."

Fox News Digital has reached out to President Zelenskyy's office for comment.

As Iran faces escalating nationwide protests and rising verbal threats from the Trump administration, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a pointed warning to the United States this week from an unusual platform — his Russian-language account on X — a move analysts say underscores Tehran’s alignment with Moscow as pressure mounts on the regime.

In a post dated Jan. 11, Khamenei wrote in Russian, "The United States today is miscalculating in its approach toward Iran." Hours later, he followed with a second message, also in Russian, warning that Americans had suffered defeat before because of "miscalculations" and would do so again because of "erroneous planning."

Ksenia Svetlova, executive director of the Regional Organization for Peace, Economy and Security (ROPES) and an associate fellow at Chatham House, said the language choice was telling, even if the execution was clumsy.

PROTESTS SPREAD ACROSS IRAN AS REGIME THREATENS US FORCES AS 'LEGITIMATE TARGETS' AFTER TRUMP WARNING

"This is bad Russian," Svetlova told Fox News Digital. "It seems that it’s translated by Google Translate, not by a human being." Still, she said the use of Khamenei’s Russian-language account was no surprise given how closely Iran and Russia have aligned in recent years.

Khamenei’s warning came as Iran’s internal crisis continued to deepen. According to HRANA, a human rights organization tracking the unrest, at least 544 people have been killed in nationwide protests, with dozens of additional cases still under review. Opposition group NCRI has claimed the death toll is far higher — more than 3,000 — though exact figures remain difficult to verify amid widespread internet blackouts imposed by Iranian authorities.

President Donald Trump has led U.S. criticism in response to the rising death toll. In response to a question about whether Iran had crossed a red line, Trump responded by saying, "They're starting to, it looks like. And they seem to be some people killed that aren't supposed to be killed. These are violent. If you call them leaders, I don't know if they're leaders, or just they rule through violence. But we're looking at it very seriously," he said on Sunday aboard Air Force One. 

IRANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS HIS COUNTRY IS AT 'TOTAL WAR' WITH THE US, ISRAEL AND EUROPE: REPORTS

"We’re looking at some very strong options," he added.

Iranian leaders have pushed back, accusing Washington of interference and warning that any U.S. military action would trigger retaliation against American forces and allies in the region.

At the same time, Tehran has signaled it wants to keep diplomatic back channels open. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that communication between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff remains active. Axios separately reported that Araghchi reached out to Witkoff over the weekend amid Trump’s warnings of possible military action.

IRANIAN MILITARY LEADER THREATENS PREEMPTIVE ATTACK AFTER TRUMP COMMENTS

Despite those overtures, analysts say Khamenei’s Russian-language message reflects where Iran sees its most reliable strategic partner.

Russia has become a critical lifeline for Tehran, particularly as Moscow relies on Iranian-supplied drones and other military equipment for its war in Ukraine. That dependence, Svetlova said, means Iran’s internal instability could carry serious consequences for the Kremlin.

"I think that could be a dramatic effect, because they do depend on Iran — specifically military production, the drones and ballistic missiles," she said. "They need them to continue their war against Ukraine."

Yet the partnership has also fueled resentment inside Iran. Svetlova pointed to criticism following the 12-day war with Israel, when many Iranians accused Moscow of failing to come to Tehran’s aid.

"There was a lot of criticism in Iran against Russia that it did not come to help," she said. "It didn’t reach out. It didn’t do anything, basically."

Still, she said Russia has few alternatives as its global position narrows. With longtime allies weakened or toppled, such as Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Moscow is increasingly reliant on Tehran — even as it remains largely silent about the protests rocking Iran.

Against that backdrop, Svetlova explained, Khamenei’s warning in Russian appears like a signal — to Washington and to Moscow — that Iran sees its confrontation with the United States as part of a shared front with President Vladimir Putin.