Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has offered Vladimir Putin fresh peace talks after weeks of relentless Russian missile attacks.
Mr Zelensky offered Moscow another round of ceasefire negotiations for next week, saying he wanted to speed up ending the conflict.
It comes after weeks of relentless Russian strikes on Ukraine, including over 300 drones and 30 missiles launched on Friday night.
“Everything should be done to achieve a ceasefire,” Mr Zelensky said in his evening address to the nation. “The Russian side should stop hiding from decisions.”
Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul over the past five months. They have agreed to swap prisoners but made no breakthroughs in ending almost three and a half years of conflict that started with Russia‘s 2022 invasion.
Mr Zelensky said Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at both talks in Istanbul, had sent the Russian side the offer to hold the meeting next week, but gave no more details.
US president Donald Trump, who has sharpened his tone against Russia in recent weeks amid worsening air strikes on Ukrainian cities, threatened harsher sanctions on Russia earlier this month if a peace deal was not reached within 50 days.
Two killed in Russian attack on Dnipropetrovsk
At least two people were killed in Russian attack on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russia launched its biggest ever attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad yesterday, regional governor Sergiy Lysak said.
The airstrike destroyed “an outpatient clinic, a school and a cultural institution” in the Vasylkivska township, he added.
Flights suspended as Ukraine attacks Moscow
Russian air defence systems shot down three drones en route to Moscow last evening, city mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
Two Moscow airports – Vnukovo and Domodedovo – suspended arrivals and departures for safety reasons but later resumed operations, Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said.
The Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 27 Ukrainian drones in total from 3 pm to 7pm local time, including four over Moscow region, 15 over Bryansk region, six over Kaluga region and two over Tula.
Minister accuses Russia of deporting Ukrainians
Ukraine’s foreign minister has accused Russia of deporting Ukrainian citizens into Georgia and leaving them stranded without proper identification.
Andrii Sybiha said Moscow has escalated the practice of expelling Ukrainians — many of whom are former prisoners — across its southern border with Georgia, instead of returning them directly to Ukraine.
“Dozens of people, many of whom lack proper documentation, have been stuck in the transit zone,” he wrote on X.
Russia pounds Ukraine with over 300 drones
Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine with hundreds of drones, killing at least one person, part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that has dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the more than three-year-old war.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted on X that Russia fired over 300 drones, along with more than 30 cruise missiles.
One person died in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, which was hit with more than 20 drones and a missile, mayor Hennadii Trukhanov wrote on Telegram, while five people were rescued when a fire broke out in a residential high-rise building.
According to Mr Zelensky, six other people were wounded in the attack on Odesa, including a child, and critical infrastructure was damaged in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
Recap: We see what you are doing, Lammy warns Kremlin
The UK has sanctioned a string of Russian spies and hackers, accusing them of carrying out a campaign to “destabilise Europe”.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens.
“The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won’t tolerate it. That’s why we’re taking decisive action with sanctions against Russian spies.”
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Recap: Russia launches ‘hellish’ six-hour bombardment on Ukrainian city
Russia launched a “hellish” aerial attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad overnight.
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergey Lysak, said the city had been bombarded for six-hours with a factory, fire station and five-storey residential building hit.
“A hellish night and morning for Pavlohrad. The most intense attack on the city. Explosion after explosion. Russian terrorists targeted it with missiles and drones,” he said.
It was one of a number of cities across the country that were targeted by Russian drones overnight. In the city of Odesa, one person was killed.
Source: independent.co.uk