KYIV/MOSCOW: Russia and Ukraine launched a series of drone attacks overnight, escalating hostilities despite ongoing efforts to broker a ceasefire. Ukrainian strikes targeted Russia’s Engels military airbase, while Russia targeted eastern Ukrainian towns.
The renewed aerial assaults come as the United States pushes both sides to agree on a truce after more than three years of war.
According to Ukrainian officials, Russian forces dropped over three dozen glide bombs on the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions, killing two people and injuring several others.
Andriy Raikovych, governor of Ukraine’s Kirovohrad region, reported that Russian drone attacks in the town of Kropyvnytskyi, located hundreds of kilometres from the front line.
“Kropyvnytskyi underwent the most massive enemy attack. Peaceful residential buildings were destroyed,” Raikovych stated.
The Ukrainian Air Force claimed that Russia launched a total of 171 drones overnight, of which 75 were intercepted, while another 63 were neutralised through electronic jamming or lost.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military said it struck the Engels airbase in Russia’s southwestern Saratov region, a key site hosting Russian strategic bombers.
Ukrainian security sources said that the attack caused fires and explosions in the area, damaging a warehouse storing cruise missiles and glide bombs.
Limited ceasefire agreement
The latest hostilities follow Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a 30-day suspension of strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, though he refrained from agreeing to a full ceasefire.
Diplomatic efforts to broker a lasting peace are intensifying. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that further talks between the United States and Russia could take place on Sunday or early next week.
Meanwhile, Washington is also expected to hold discussions with Kyiv in Saudi Arabia.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underscored the need for Europe to maintain its strong support for Ukraine, regardless of the ongoing diplomatic talks.
“We must continue our support with a clear position that a just peace must be possible for Ukraine,” Scholz stated ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels.
However, Peskov accused European leaders of focusing on military expansion rather than conflict resolution, saying that “signals from Brussels and European capitals concern plans to militarise Europe.”
European security and NATO involvement
In the United Kingdom, military leaders and European officials convened north of London to discuss long-term security arrangements for Ukraine, as concerns grow over future Russian aggression against Baltic and Nordic states.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are leading efforts to form a “coalition of the willing” to oversee a potential ceasefire.
Both leaders have indicated a willingness to deploy troops to Ukraine, a move Moscow has strongly opposed.
Despite US President Donald Trump’s cooling stance on military aid to Ukraine, Washington is reportedly considering acquiring additional air defence systems for Kyiv.
The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, is urging member states to meet Ukraine’s request for two million artillery shells, worth an estimated €5 billion.
According to the White House, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has formally requested additional US-made Patriot missile systems to bolster Ukraine’s air defences.
Talks amid escalation
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said that technical teams from Russia and the United States would meet in Riyadh to discuss the implementation and potential expansion of the partial ceasefire.
While Putin rejected Washington’s proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, he agreed to the temporary halt in strikes on Ukrainian energy sites.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has reiterated its position that any agreement must include a full withdrawal of Russian forces from its occupied territories.
