KYIV, Ukraine (BN24) — At least five people were killed in a surge of cross-border drone and missile attacks between Ukraine and Russia, as both nations ramped up military action following unproductive ceasefire talks in Istanbul.
Ukrainian authorities reported that more than 200 drones and nearly 30 missiles were launched by Russian forces overnight, targeting several cities with particular intensity in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk. Three people died and six were injured in that region, officials said Saturday. Residential areas in the city of Dnipro were struck, with industrial sites and a shopping center also sustaining damage.
On the Russian side, two fatalities were reported in the Rostov region after a vehicle caught fire, an incident attributed to a Ukrainian drone strike, according to the region’s acting governor.
The latest wave of drone warfare comes as both governments issued updates on military operations. Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed its troops had taken control of two villages—Zelenyi Hai in the contested Donetsk region and Maliivka in Dnipropetrovsk. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s forces were “gradually pushing Russian forces out” of the northeastern Sumy region, an area he called a key target for Moscow’s military efforts.
Zelensky confirmed that Kharkiv and Sumy were also struck by Russian missiles, reiterating Ukraine’s strategy to retaliate with long-range drone attacks. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he emphasized that Russian military sites and airfields are “now facing real consequences” from Ukraine’s drone capabilities. He called the strikes “arguments that will surely bring peace closer.”
Zelensky also noted that Ukrainian forces had blocked further Russian advances from the border into Sumy, and mentioned the reported liberation of Kindrativka village in the region. In the Donetsk region’s Pokrovsk front, he said Ukrainian troops engaged in 51 intense combat encounters within the past 24 hours as they continued defensive operations.
The tit-for-tat escalation in drone attacks followed the third round of ceasefire discussions in Istanbul earlier this week. While Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Wednesday evening, the talks collapsed without any signs of progress. Both sides accused the other of dismissing proposals. Previous negotiation attempts in May and June—spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls to end what he described as a “horrible, bloody war”—also ended without agreement.
The conflict, ignited by Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, shows little sign of winding down as drone warfare becomes an increasingly dominant and destructive element in the nearly three-year-old war.
Credit: BBC.COM
