Russia and Ukraine exchanged deadly strikes overnight as Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared for a meeting with Donald Trump, placing the latest battlefield escalation directly behind the next round of high-level diplomacy.

The Associated Press reported that Russia bombarded at least four Ukrainian regions with missiles and drones, killing five people. Ukraine, meanwhile, said it had damaged another Russian oil refinery. Separate Reuters reporting described strikes on industrial sites in Ukraine and disruption to power supplies in the north.

The competing claims are part of a familiar pattern in the war: both sides present the damage inflicted on the other as evidence of reach and resilience, while the civilian cost accumulates away from the negotiating table. Figures can change as local authorities inspect sites and account for casualties.

For Zelenskyy, the meeting with Trump comes with the war still defined by long-range attacks and pressure on energy and industrial infrastructure. For Washington, the sequence is a reminder that any discussion of a settlement is taking place while the parties continue to test one another's ability to strike deep behind the front line.

The immediate question is what, if anything, the meeting can alter. The overnight attacks do not prove that diplomacy has failed, but they show the narrow space in which diplomacy is being attempted.