Praise at the table in St Petersburg

Steve Witkoff sat down with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to close a deal over Russia's land grab in Ukraine. Witkoff is a real-estate mogul who became the US's senior envoy for ending the conflict thanks to being Trump's friend.

During the meeting, Witkoff told the Russian president, who has held power for 26 years:

Funerals while the envoys met

As the talks took place, the families of six people killed in a drone strike in a park near Kharkiv this week were holding funerals. The final death toll was four adults and two children.

• •The youngest victim was a one-year-old girl, Anhelina, killed while strapped in her stroller in a playground.
• •Her mother, Inna Mariukhna, a local schoolteacher, was also killed in the strike.
• •An 11-year-old girl was the second child among the dead.

Children studying underground

Kharkiv, less than 20 miles from the border, has constructed 10 underground schools because of regular Russian bombing. Olena Svytlychna, head of the education department of the city's Novobavarskyi region, said people had believed in Trump to stop what she called "this monster Putin".

"And now we have doubts, we don't believe them. And we are very scared," she said.

Washington's position and Russia's winter plans

Trump told reporters that Russia "has been fine on Ukraine". Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, he said "some people in a town that got hit or whatever, but mostly young soldiers" died. The White House is seeking a peace deal before the 3 November midterm elections, and Witkoff's goal included bringing home a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan who had been detained in Russia.

• •A Russian strategy document obtained by the Guardian shows plans to cut up to 90% of electricity to cities such as Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv this winter.
• •The Russia-Ukraine war is described as the largest European conflict since the second world war, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.

The White House is seeking a deal before the 3 November midterm elections, while Kharkiv prepares for a winter in which up to 90% of its electricity could be cut.