Five people have been killed in overnight strikes in Russia and Ukraine, as the two sides continue to trade drone attacks.
Ukrainian officials said on Saturday that more than 200 drones and almost 30 missiles were fired by Russia, with most targeting Dnipropetrovsk where three people died.
In Russia, Rostov’s actor governor said two people died in the region after a car caught fire following a Ukrainian drone strike.
The attacks came as both sides gave updates on their military operations – Russia claimed to have taken two villages in Ukraine’s east, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said troops were “gradually pushing Russian forces out” of the Sumy region.
Zelensky said Russian strikes also targeted Kharkiv and Sumy, and added on X that the strikes “cannot be left without response, and Ukrainian long-range drones ensure one”.
He added that Russian military sites and airports “must see that Russia’s own war is now hitting them back with real consequences” and said Ukraine’s drone attacks were “some of the arguments that will surely bring peace closer”.
Six people were injured in the strikes on Dnipropetrovsk, the region’s head said. A residential block and industrial areas were hit in the city of Dnipro while a shopping centre was hit in the wider district.
Also on Saturday, Russia’s ministry of defence claimed its army had captured two villages, Zelenyi Hai in the Donetsk region and Maliivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
In an update on X, Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces were pushing Russian troops back in Sumy.
He said: “Although this region remains one of the enemy’s priority directions, our forces consistently block Russian attempts to advance deeper into the Sumy region from the border areas.”
There were reports that a village in the region – Kindrativka – had been liberated from Russian control.
Zelensky added there had been “51 intense combat engagements” in the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk in the past day, where he said troops were defending positions.
Both sides continue to trade drone attacks, after a brief third round of ceasefire talks took place in Istanbul earlier in the week.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations met on Wednesday evening but the talks failed to make steps towards ending the conflict. Both sides accused the other of rejecting their ideas.
The first two rounds of ceasefire talks were held in May and June at the request of US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to see the end of the “horrible, bloody war” that was sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.