Russia has intensified its military operations against Ukraine by launching a significant drone assault involving 149 drones over the weekend. Ukrainian armed forces reported intercepting 57 of these drones, while 67 went off radar. The eastern town of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region faced severe shelling, a recurring target throughout the ongoing conflict. The regional governor confirmed the tragic death of an elderly man and the injury of a 14-year-old girl during the attacks.
In the city of Dnipro, located further west, the mayor reported substantial damage, with over 150 windows in high-rise residential buildings shattered during the nocturnal strikes, leaving considerable debris scattered across the affected areas. Additional drone attacks wounded one individual in the Odesa region and another in Zhytomyr. Meanwhile, a Russian airstrike on Kherson on Sunday morning resulted in injuries to four people, according to local officials.
The strikes affected six regions in total, including Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Sumy, Donetsk, and Cherkasy. Concurrently, the Russian Defence Ministry released footage purportedly showing artillery targeting Ukrainian positions on the “right bank of the Dnipro River.”
On Saturday, Russia claimed to have regained full control over its Kursk region, previously seized by Ukrainian forces during a surprise incursion last August. However, Ukrainian officials have dismissed this claim.
Amid these developments, US President Donald Trump expressed skepticism about the potential for a peace deal to end the three-year war in Ukraine. His remarks came just a day after expressing optimism about an imminent agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Trump criticized recent missile attacks on civilian areas by Russian forces and suggested possible further sanctions against Russia. His comments followed a brief meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican, marking their first encounter since a heated exchange at the White House in February.
In other developments, Russia’s Defence Ministry announced on Sunday that its air defenses intercepted five Ukrainian drones in the Bryansk border region and three more over the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed illegally in 2014. In the occupied Donetsk region, the Russian-installed mayor of Horlivka reported that five individuals were wounded due to Ukrainian shelling.
