UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON ATTACKS, CHANGES IN DECK
By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Moscow and Kyiv on Sunday accused each other of conducting overnight airstrikes as US President Donald Trump is set to host his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida to discuss a 20-point peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in a statement on Telegram that its air defenses downed 25 Ukrainian drones, 12 of them over the Samara region bordering neighboring Kazakhstan.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency Press Secretary Artem Korenyako said temporary restrictions on aircraft arrivals and departures had been imposed at Samara's international airport. The restrictions were later lifted.
No reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure were provided by either local authorities in Samara or other regions mentioned in the statement, namely Belgorod, Kursk, Saratov, Volgograd, and Rostov regions.
Russian state news agency RIA said more than 300 flights were either delayed or cancelled at Moscow's Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo airports.
Separately, Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that air defenses shot down 30 out of 48 various types of drones launched by Russia.
The country's State Emergency Service reported a fire in an apartment building and damage to a lyceum building in the southern city of Odesa, but there were no casualties.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said the fire was caused by a drone hitting the roof of a two-story residential building.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz said the Kherson Thermal Power Plant was hit, suffering "significant damage" and injuring one.
Separately, the General Staff claimed striking the Syzran oil refinery overnight, situated in the western part of Russia's Samara region.
Trump is set to host Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, later Sunday to discuss the US plan to end the nearly four-year conflict.
The Ukrainian president arrived in the US on Saturday following a visit to neighboring Canada, where Ottawa announced a new CAN$2.5 billion ($1.8 billion) economic aid package for Kyiv.
In an interview with Axios on Friday, Zelenskyy said he was willing to put the entire 20-point peace plan to a national referendum if the final proposal included "a very difficult" decision on territorial concessions.
While a 28-point plan, made public in November, was initially proposed by the US side to end the conflict, subsequent discussions have led to the drafting of a refined 20-point framework to make it acceptable to all stakeholders.