MOSCOW (BN24) — Ukrainian drone strikes killed three people and wounded two others overnight in western Russia, according to regional governors, as the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kyiv intensifies.

In Penza, one woman died and two others were injured when a drone hit an industrial enterprise, Governor Oleg Melnichenko said on Telegram. In the Samara region, an elderly man was killed when his house caught fire after falling debris from a drone strike, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported. Meanwhile, in the Rostov region, a security guard at an industrial site was killed in a drone attack that also sparked a fire, acting Governor Yuri Sliusar said.

Sliusar added that Russian military forces repelled a “massive air attack” overnight, intercepting drones over seven districts. Russia’s defense ministry claimed its air defense systems destroyed 112 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory during the nearly nine-hour period from Friday night to Saturday morning, including 34 drones over Rostov.

Across the border, in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drone strikes wounded three people overnight, Governor Sergiy Lysak said. Russian forces recently announced capturing two villages in the region amid Moscow’s accelerated military operations in July, though Kyiv denies any Russian presence there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his stance against a ceasefire in the more than three-year war, affirming his conditions for peace include Ukraine relinquishing territory and abandoning NATO aspirations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said only Putin could end the conflict and renewed his call for a summit between the two leaders. “The United States has proposed this. Ukraine has supported it. What is needed is Russia’s readiness,” Zelensky said on X.

The drone strikes highlight the escalating use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, causing civilian casualties and infrastructure damage while signaling ongoing volatility in the region.

Credit: Al Jazeera