Ukraine and Russia unleashed a fresh barrage of missiles and drones against each other Saturday — trading devastating strikes just days before they are due to sit down for US-brokered peace talks.

Russia pounded Kyiv and the surrounding region with 36 ballistic missiles and 172 Shahed-type drones overnight, killing six people, including a 7-year-old child, and wounding at least nine others, according to Ukrainian officials.

In the capital city, the attack damaged homes, businesses, Kyiv’s crucial Northern Bridge, and caused power and water outages. North Korean ballistic missiles were used to target energy facilities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“Russia is preparing for the trilateral talks by launching ballistic missiles at Ukrainian critical infrastructure,” Zelensky commented on X Saturday.

“Russia has a very particular view of diplomacy — as a subtype of aggression,” he added. “By intensifying its attacks on Ukraine and our infrastructure at this very moment, Russia is trying to additionally lay the groundwork for putting pressure on Ukraine’s position.”

Kyiv struck back, hitting the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia, triggering major fires that damaged the facility with a processing capacity of about 140,000 barrels of crude a day.

The petroleum refinery is one of the oldest in Russia, managed by state-owned oil titan Rosneft, and has been a repeatedly targeted by Ukraine, having to halt operations several times due to strikes.

It produces automotive gasoline, commercial diesel fuel, fuel oil, and specialized lubricants for the Russian armed forces, according to the Kyiv Post.

The escalating attacks came as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the US prepared to meet in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11 in the latest effort to end the nearly five-year war.

The new round of talks in the United Arab Emirates capital will mark the fourth attempt at negotiations brokered by the Trump administration, with the last one dating back to Feb. 17-18 in Geneva, before the White House shifted its focus to the war in Iran after Feb. 28.

Russia’s delegation will include senior military officials and diplomats such Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov for the first time, the Kremlin said Saturday.

Members of the delegation met Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday at a Russian Security Council meeting devoted to the upcoming talks, according to the Moscow Times.

Meanwhile, President Trump’s proposed security framework for Europe has raised concerns in Kyiv, with Zelensky warning against allowing Moscow a say in the continent’s future while its forces continue attacking Ukraine.

The proposed framework would establish permanent security consultations, crisis communication channels, greater military transparency and reciprocal measures to reduce the risk of military escalation, while creating a long-term security arrangement for Europe.

Zelensky has argued that negotiations over Europe’s security must not come at the expense of Ukraine’s sovereignty, and that ending the war must come first.

“We don’t want to be divided by Russia,” Zelensky told CNN’s Jake Tapper Friday.

Son-in-law Jared Kushner, who will lead the US delegation in Abu Dhabi with special envoy Steve Witkoff, said Washington was working on the European security framework ahead of next week’s talks.

With Post Wires