Russia launches nearly 150 drones into Ukraine

Russia launched a massive drone attack with 149 drones towards Ukraine from Saturday into Sunday, according to Ukraine’s armed forces, who said they had shot down 57 whilst 67 went off radar.

The eastern town of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, often targeted throughout the conflict, came under heavy shelling. Regional governor Serhii Lysak confirmed that an elderly man was killed and a 14-year-old girl injured in the attacks.

Further west, in Dnipro, the city’s mayor reported significant damage, with at least 150 windows in high-rise residential buildings shattered during the overnight strikes. Large amounts of debris were left scattered across affected areas.

One person was wounded in drone attacks on the Odesa region, and another in the city of Zhytomyr. Four people were also wounded in a Russian airstrike on the city of Kherson on Sunday morning, according to local officials.

Six regions were hit by the strikes – Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Sumy, Donetsk and Cherkasy, according to Ukrainian officials.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry released footage on Sunday, claiming to show artillery striking Ukrainian positions located on the “right bank of the Dnipro River”.

On Saturday, Russia also said that it had regained full control over its Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last August. Ukrainian officials, however, have rejected the claim.

Trump backtracks on peace deal optimism

On the same day, US President Donald Trump said he doubts Putin wants to end the three-year war in Ukraine, expressing fresh scepticism about the prospects for a peace deal. Just a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were “very close to a deal.”

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump posted on social media, flying back to the United States after attending Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, where he briefly met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia.

Their meeting on the sidelines of the funeral was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since a heated argument at the White House in February.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that air defences had shot down five Ukrainian drones in the border region of Bryansk, as well as three drones over the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

In occupied Donetsk, the Russian-installed mayor of Horlivka said five people were wounded by Ukrainian shelling.

Video editor • Lucy Davalou