KYIV, May 18 (Reuters) – Ukrainian officials reported Sunday that the most extensive Russian drone assault since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 left a woman dead in the Kyiv region and at least three others wounded. This intensified attack came on the heels of Friday’s peace negotiations.

Ukraine’s air force confirmed that by 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), Russia had launched 273 drones, focusing its offensive largely on the central Kyiv area as well as the eastern Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.

Data shared by the air force indicated this was the heaviest drone barrage Ukraine has faced since the war began. Back on February 23, just before the invasion's third anniversary, Russia had previously set a record by deploying 267 drones.

Friday's talks in Istanbul marked the first direct engagement between Russia and Ukraine in three years. However, they failed to bring about the temporary ceasefire Ukraine and its partners have been advocating. After 100 minutes of discussions, both sides only agreed to a prisoner exchange involving 1,000 detainees from each side.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday.

Sunday's prolonged drone onslaught resulted in the death of a 28-year-old woman in the Kyiv outskirts and injuries to at least three others, one of whom was a four-year-old child, local authorities reported.

"Sadly, a woman succumbed to her injuries during the enemy’s strike in the Obukhiv district," wrote Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, on Telegram.

The capital and surrounding areas, along with territories in eastern Ukraine, remained under air-raid alerts for a continuous nine-hour stretch overnight, which ended around 9 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). According to a military update on Telegram, defensive efforts were mounted repeatedly during the night to fend off incoming threats.

"It was a rough night. Russia has consistently used attacks as leverage during negotiations," stated Andriy Kovalenko, who leads Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, in a Telegram post referencing the night’s assault.

Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting and destroying 88 of the drones. The assault also involved 128 decoy drones, which failed to reach any targets and were lost en route, the military said on Telegram.

On Saturday, a separate drone strike in the Sumy region struck a shuttle bus, killing nine civilians, according to Ukrainian sources. President Zelenskiy called the act intentional and demanded harsher sanctions on Moscow. Russia claimed it had aimed at a military installation.

Kalashnik noted that all those wounded in the Obukhiv region, located just south of Kyiv, were transported to medical facilities. He also mentioned damage to multiple residential buildings in the vicinity.

In Kyiv itself, a downed drone’s fragments landed on the roof of a commercial property, said the city’s military administration via Telegram. No injuries were reported in that incident.

Reuters correspondents positioned in and around the capital heard explosions that appeared to be from active air defense systems. There was no immediate response from Russian officials.

While both Russia and Ukraine deny attacking civilian targets, thousands of civilians—most of them Ukrainian—have died since the war began.