Three killed in Ukraine as Russia continues drones offensive

Russian forces pummelled Ukraine with drones and other weapons on Thursday, killing three people and injuring scores of others despite international pressure to accept a ceasefire, officials said.

According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched a barrage of 63 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight. It said that air defences destroyed 28 drones while another 21 were jammed.

Ukraine’s police said two people were killed and six were injured over the past 24 hours in the eastern Donetsk region, the focus of the Russian offensive.

One person was killed and 14 others were also injured in the southern Kherson region, which is partly occupied by Russian forces, police said.

The head of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said 15 people, including four children, were injured by Russian drone attacks overnight.

Kharkiv city mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russian drones targeted residential districts, educational facilities, nurseries and other civilian infrastructure.

“Kharkiv is holding on. People are alive. And that is the most important thing,” Mr Terekhov said.

The Russian military has launched waves of drones and missiles in recent days, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday.

The recent escalation in aerial attacks has come alongside a renewed Russian battlefield push along eastern and north-eastern parts of the 600-mile front line.

While Russian missile and drone barrage have struck regions all across Ukraine, regions along the front line have faced daily Russian attacks with short-range exploding drones and glide bombs.

Ukraine hit back with drone raids, with Russia’s defence ministry saying air defences downed 52 Ukrainian drones early on Thursday, including 41 over the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were injured by Ukrainian attacks.

The attacks have continued despite discussions of a potential ceasefire in the war.

During their June 2 talks in Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators traded memorandums containing sharply divergent conditions that both sides see as non-starters, making any quick deal unlikely.

Speaking at a meeting of leaders of south-east European countries in Odesa, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the European Union to toughen its latest package of sanctions against Russia.

He argued that lowering the cap on the price of Russian oil from 60 US dollars (£44) to 45 dollars (£33) as the bloc has proposed is not enough.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv on Thursday on an unannounced visit, noting that the stepped-up Russian attacks on Ukraine send a message from Moscow that it has “no interest in a peaceful solution at present”, according to German news agency dpa.

Pistorius said his visit underlines that the new German government continues to stand by Ukraine.

“Of course this will also be about how the support of Germany and other Europeans will look in future – what we can do, for example, in the area of industrial co-operation, but also other support,” he said.