KYIV: A Russian strike on a shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Pavlograd on Thursday killed at least three people and wounded 34 more, according to the authorities. The attack comes at a time when the two warring sides have stepped up long-range barrages on each other hundreds of kilometers behind the front lines, increasingly targeting civilian sites alongside factories, refineries, warehouses and ports. According to statistics verified by the United Nations, civilian deaths in Ukraine are running at their highest rate since the first months after Russia invaded in February 2022. “About an hour ago, the Russians struck a shopping center in Pavlograd city center. It happened in broad daylight whilst the streets were packed with people,” Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said on Telegram. The Ukrainian Public Prosecutor’s Office and the regional governor, Oleksandr Ganja, reported a provisional toll of three dead and 34 injured, adding that commercial premises and vehicles had been damaged. While Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that talks on ending Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II could happen this month, the Kremlin has said it was “too early” to discuss a venue or dates. With Washington hoping to revive long-stalled stalled efforts toward ending the fighting, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump discussed the conflict on Tuesday in what the Kremlin called an “extremely frank” and constructive hour-long phone call. US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner also visited Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend in an attempt to kickstart long-stalled US efforts to end the fighting. Several previous rounds of talks have failed to bring the warring neighbors closer together. Moscow is demanding Ukraine cede territory in its eastern Donetsk region that it still controls and renounce Western military support. Kyiv has said such terms amount to capitulation and would only allow Russia to prepare a fresh attack in its bid to install a Moscow-friendly puppet government.