Russian forces took control of the villages of Kucherivka in Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region and Rivne in the eastern Donetsk region, the defence ministry said on Sunday.
Moscow carried out group strikes on Ukrainian transport infrastructure, fuel and energy facilities, military airfields and long-range drone complexes, the ministry added.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
Russia’s defence ministry said air defences destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones launched overnight, as both sides continue cross-border air attacks in the nearly four-year-old war.
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The drones were downed over seven regions in southern and central Russia and over Russian-annexed Crimea, the ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
A power transmission tower was damaged in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine about 1,000km south of Moscow, leaving about 250 residents without electricity, Rostov governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram, adding that no one was injured.
Forty-two drones were destroyed over the Saratov region in southwestern Russia and 12 over the Rostov region, the defence ministry said.
Russian authorities rarely disclose the extent of damage from Ukrainian air attacks and almost never confirm hits on military infrastructure.
The war has increasingly featured long-range drone and missile strikes far from the front lines, as each side seeks to hit military, logistics and energy assets deep in the other’s territory.
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Moscow has carried out missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s power grid and cities in past winters and ahead of this winter, causing blackouts and putting pressure on repair crews as cold weather sets in.
Kyiv has stepped up drone attacks on oil depots, airfields and other targets inside Russia, often casting them as a legitimate response to Moscow’s campaign against Ukraine’s cities and energy system.
The Ukrainian president will meet UK prime minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street on Monday along with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy will head to the UK amid continued talks between Ukrainian and US officials on a Washington-backed plan to end the war.
Negotiators in Florida have acknowledged any “real progress” will depend “on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace”.
Russia has repeatedly rejected the prospect of allied troops being stationed in Ukraine and continues to demand large swathes of Ukrainian territory in exchange for peace. – Reuters/PA
