Ukraine updates: Russia hit with second car bomb attack in two days

A car bomb exploded in Moscow on Friday, injuring Sergei Zavorotniy, an aide to former Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov. The attack, which occurred just days after a similar explosion killed a Russian serviceman in Saint Petersburg, has raised concerns about a new wave of violence.

Zavorotniy, who fled Ukraine in 2014, was hospitalized with a lost left arm, concussion, and rib fractures, according to Russian media reports. He serves as a spokesman for Azarov, a pro-Russian politician who served as Ukraine's prime minister from 2010 to 2014.

Azarov told the TASS state news agency that he knows nothing about the explosion other than that Zavorotniy survived. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched an inquiry into the attack, which is the second reported car-bomb explosion in Russia in two days.

Escalating violence

The attack on Zavorotniy follows a car-bomb explosion in Saint Petersburg on Thursday that killed a Russian serviceman. This series of events highlights the intensifying security situation in Russia, which has been facing a series of targeted attacks in recent weeks.

The Kremlin has not yet commented on the Moscow explosion. Meanwhile, the Russian city of Volgograd was also hit overnight, with four people killed and two others injured in an attack, according to regional government reports.

In Ukraine, drone attacks overnight killed several people in both countries. In the southern city of Odesa, two people were killed and five others injured, including one person who was reportedly hurt in an attack on a hospital. In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a 17-year-old boy was killed.

EU leaders face pressure in Dublin

While the violence continues, European leaders are meeting in Dublin to address their role in the stalled Ukraine peace talks. The summit of 47 European leaders comes in the wake of a diplomatic tour by two Donald Trump administration advisers, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, to talks in Abu Dhabi and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The advisers then traveled to Dublin to debrief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy and Kushner stated that Europeans would be at the table for the next talks with Russia on ending the war.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that Russia does not want "anybody strong" at the negotiating table because they want to push through their maximum demands. She emphasized that the bloc must not walk into Russian traps.

Kallas is one of the figures tipped as most likely to represent the EU in any future talks, alongside EU Council President Antonio Costa. However, the EU has not yet been able to land on one central figure to send, with many national leaders wanting to be present themselves.

Moscow demands clarity

Russia has signaled that it will only allow the EU into the peace talks once it understands the bloc's "genuine intention." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia needs clarity on the European Union's "real intentions" for joining the Ukraine peace talks before making a decision.

Russia's lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, claimed that "Russia did not receive single concrete peace proposal from European countries." This statement further complicates the diplomatic efforts to bring the EU into the trilateral talks.

US negotiators said on Thursday that Putin had agreed to an EU seat at the table, but Peskov's remarks indicate that the Kremlin has not yet agreed. The next step is for the EU to nominate a representative and for Russia to decide whether to proceed with the expanded format.