Ukraine-Russia war live: Kyiv strikes Russian defence plant as Zelensky urges Putin to ‘towards peace’ – UK Times

Drones and artillery killed civilians on both sides of ⁠the Russia-Ukraine border yesterday, local officials said.

In the Russian border region of Bryansk, a Ukrainian drone strike killed two people in their car in ⁠a village near the border, ​the ⁠region’s acting governor Yegor Kovalchuk said on Telegram.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin issued a long ‌series of statements about Ukrainian drones ‌heading for the capital being intercepted. An informal tally kept by Russian news agencies put the number at 24 ⁠during the day.

In Ukraine, the governor of the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk Region, Oleksandr Ganzha, said a combined total of more than 40 drone strikes and artillery fire had killed one person and injured one near Nikopol.

The town, lying on the ‌opposite bank of the Dnipro River from the ​Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, is ‌a frequent Russian target.

Russia launched ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday, injuring two people and damaging several sites within the city.

Explosions were reported just before 2am local time and later another wave of missiles struck around 2.35am, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Fires were also reported elsewhere in the area, including near a residential building, at a service station, and at an unspecified non-residential building.

A Ukrainian drone attack reportedly set an oil refinery in the Russian city of Slavyansk-na-Kubani on fire.

Photos circulating on social media appear to show large flames rising from storage tanks at the refinery in Krasnodar Krai region.

The regional operational headquarters said the fire was caused by falling debris.

President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russian forced deployed almost 1,400 attack drones, 1,500 guided aerial bombs, and 19 missiles against Ukraine over the past week.

He said that 15 Ukrainian regions were subjected to Russian attacks in that time, including Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Sumy, which faced the harshest bombardment.

“Using various types of weapons, the Russians are striking people, ordinary residential buildings, and our civilian infrastructure,” Zelensky said

• Ukraine has struck a Russian military plant with Flamingo missiles, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said, after approving a 40-day offensive campaign aimed at influencing Russia to end the ongoing conflict. This decision was made after consultations with the head of the Ukrainian security service, though it is unclear if the offensive has commenced.
• Ukrainian forces also attacked two Russian oil refineries in Ufa, 1,500km from the frontline, and an oil depot in the Krasnodar region, 300km from Ukraine, targeting Russian infrastructure.

Ukraine has secured the return of seven civilians who it says have unlawfully detained by Russia for years.

The returned civilians, aged between 35 and 66, were captured during the occupation of Mariupol and parts of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts in 2022, Kyiv Independent reported.

“After years of unlawful detention by Russia, our people are finally home and can breathe free Ukrainian air,” Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said.

Putin is rattled and Trump needs a win – this is the chance for Ukraine and her allies to force the collapse of Russia’s army and push back against its land grab, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed Ukraine used domestically-produced FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles to strike a Russian military plant.
• The FP-5 Flamingo missile, which entered service in 2025, has a 3,000km range and can carry a tonne of explosives.
• It is designed for low-altitude flight to avoid detection and has been used for long-range targets deep inside Russian territory, aimed at disrupting their war economy.