Five people have been killed in one night strikes in Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials said that more than 200 drones and 30 missiles were fired by Russia on Saturday, with most people targeting Dnipropetrovsk, where three people were killed.
In Russia, Rostov’s representative governor said two people were killed in the area after a car fire after a drone strike in Ukraine.
The attack came when both sides provided updates on military operations – Russia claimed that they had taken two villages in eastern Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Voldy Mie Zelensky said the troops were “gradually pushing away Russian troops” in the Smie region.
Zelensky also targeted Kharkiv and Sumy, adding that X “can’t remain without a response.”
He added that Russian military sites and airports “have to see that Russia’s own war is now hitting them with real consequences,” and that Ukrainian drone attacks are “some of the debates that will certainly bring peace closer.”
Six people were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk strike, the head of the area said. In Dnipro city, residential blocks and industrial areas were attacked, and shopping centres were attacked in the larger district.
Also on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its army had captured two villages, Zereny Hai in the Donetsk region and Malivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Zelensky said in an update on X that Ukrainian forces are pushing Russian troops back to Smee.
He said: “While this region is one of the enemy’s priorities, our forces have consistently blocked attempts to push Russia’s efforts deeper from the border areas.”
There have been reports that a village in the area – Kindrativka – has been released from Russian rule.
Zelensky added that there had been “51 intense combat engagements” in the Pokrovsk region of Donetsk on the past day.
Both sides continued to trade drone attacks after a brief third round of ceasefire talks took place in Istanbul at the beginning of the week.
The Ukrainian and Russian delegations met on Wednesday evening, but the consultations failed to take steps to end the conflict. Both sides accused others of rejecting their ideas.
The first two rounds of the ceasefire talks took place in May and June at the request of President Donald Trump, who repeatedly said he wanted to see the end of the “terrifying, bloody war” sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
