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Russian shelling and drone strikes killed five people in Ukraine on Sunday, while Ukrainian forces targeted an oil refinery deep inside Russia’s Saratov region, authorities reported.
Ukraine’s national police said three civilians were killed and one wounded in the Zaporizhzhia region, with two more deaths recorded in the embattled Donetsk region. In a separate incident, three beachgoers in the Black Sea port city of Odesa died after triggering a sea mine while swimming in a restricted area mined to deter possible Russian naval attacks.
Kyiv’s military claimed responsibility for a drone strike on a major oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov region, located nearly 1,000 kilometres from the frontline. Saratov governor Roman Busargin confirmed damage to “an industrial enterprise” and reported one death from the attack. In Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine and frequently comes under fire, another woman was killed, local officials said.
Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian oil and gas facilities in an effort to disrupt Moscow’s ability to fund its more than three-year war. Kyiv also announced the recapture of Bezsalivka village in the Sumy region, even as Russian forces continue to press offensives in eastern Ukraine, where they have made recent territorial gains.
Meanwhile, international attention is turning to diplomacy, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump set to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss the conflict. However, Ukraine and several European leaders have warned that any peace talks must include Kyiv as a participant.
