Ukraine war strikes kill five, officials say

Russian strikes killed two people and wounded dozens across Ukraine overnight Saturday and Sunday, while a Ukrainian drone attack killed three people in Russia's Belgorod region, officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of relying on “ballistic terror” and said 61 missiles of various types had been fired at Ukraine during the week. He called for more sanctions against Russia and more air defence for Ukraine.

Zelensky said two people were killed by a Russian drone strike in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, where four floors of a residential building were destroyed. Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegoubov said 23 people were injured.

Zelensky said eight people were also injured overnight in Odesa, where strikes damaged the power grid, the port and residential buildings. He condemned another strike on energy infrastructure near a shopping centre in Pavlohrad, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and said nine people, including four children, were injured there.

In Russia, Belgorod region acting governor Alexander Shuvaev said a Ukrainian drone attack on the border city of Belgorod killed three people and injured 25, including children aged four and nine. He said fires broke out in cars, two apartment buildings and a house.

The Russian army claimed on Sunday that it had captured two small villages in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. The claim has not been independently verified. One of the villages, Vasiutynske, is about 10 kilometres from Kramatorsk, a Ukrainian urban and logistics hub.

Russia's large-scale offensive against Ukraine began more than four years ago, and prospects for a peace agreement remain largely stalled.