Russia ‘pushing into new Ukrainian region'
Russian forces are attempting to push into a new Ukrainian region, Moscow said.
Moscow's defence ministry said forces from a tank unit had 'reached the western border of the Donetsk People's Republic and are continuing to develop an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region'.
DeepStateMap, a Ukrainian open-source intelligence map monitoring the front line, suggested Russian forces were around 100 metres from the border near the town of Horikhove.
Russian advances in Ukraine accelerated in May after a slower winter campaign, according to analysis of the frontline.
Vladimir Putin's troops seized 507 sq km of Ukrainian territory last month, up from 379 sq km in April and 240 sq km in March. The gains were concentrated in the eastern Donetsk region, which borders Dnipropetrovsk.
The renewed momentum on the battlefield comes amid a push by the US to broker a peace deal. Russia and Ukraine have met twice for talks in Istanbul, though appear no closer to a ceasefire.
Thanks for following our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. It has now ended.
Here's a summary of what happened today:
Russia claimed that its forces had reached the border of Dnipropetrovsk in a significant territorial escalation
It followed renewed overnight strikes, which killed one person and injured another in the eastern region of Kharkiv
Ukraine said a planned prisoner of war swap with Russia was set to take place 'next week'
It follows accusations by Russia that Ukraine unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers, which Kyiv said was untrue
Ukraine confirmed that Russian soldiers were attempting to push into Dnipropetrovsk but that its forces had not broken through the border
Ukraine's southern defence forces appear to have confirmed that Russian forces are pushing to enter Dnipropetrovsk - though say they have not broken through the border.
'The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region,' Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said.
'Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute.'
Major Andrii Kovalov, spokesperson for Ukraine's general staff, denied Russian claims that troops had entered the region.
'This information does not reflect reality. Fighting continues in Donetsk Oblast. The enemy has not entered Dnipropetrovsk Oblast,' he said.
Russia's push to enter the region of Dnipropetrovsk reflects the 'new reality on the ground', a senior Russian security official has said.
Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the national security council, said the push was a response to peace talks in Istanbul.
'Those who do not want to recognise the realities of the war at negotiations, will receive new realities on the ground. Our armed forces have started an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region,' he said on social media.
Ukraine has said a planned prisoner of war swap with Russia is set to take place 'next week'.
'The start of repatriation activities based on the results of the negotiations in Istanbul is scheduled for next week,' the head of Ukraine's defence intelligence Kyrylo Budanov said on social media.
It follows accusations by Russia that Ukraine unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers, which Kyiv said was untrue.
The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, said Russia's 'baseless' accusations were part of an effort by the Kremlin to undermine confidence building measures with Ukraine.
'The Kremlin's unwillingness to engage in good faith in lower-level confidence building measures designed to facilitate larger peace negotiations further demonstrates Russia's disinterest in peace negotiations,' the think tank said.
Councils are flying flags for Ukraine from their town halls while blocking investment in the British defence industry.
At least a dozen English councils have passed motions to 'divest' from defence companies because of the war in Gaza, or have taken steps to reduce their holdings in arms companies.
A report by two Labour MPs has found that defence companies have missed out on at least £30 million in investment because of action taken by local councils to focus their pension funds on 'ethical' firms.
Despite this, several of the councils have displayed the Ukrainian flag from their town halls in solidarity against Russia.
The MPs, Luke Charters and Alex Baker, said there was 'untapped potential' in local government pensions that could be used to boost investment in the defence sector, which often struggles to access finance.
Valeria was about to take a bite of pizza when the Iskander landed nearby.
The blast from the Russian missile shattered all the windows in the Mykolaiv CHP (combined heat and power) plant in southern Ukraine, igniting a gas fire and propelling shrapnel through the canteen.
'I had imagined what I might do when a missile or a Shahed [drone] comes, like if it really happens to me, and I had told myself I should be really calm at that moment,' says the 27-year-old.
She and her twin sister Alyona led a hyperventilating colleague out of the plant's office to her car. The trio were still driving away when the second Iskander hit, devastating the plant's boiler-room.
After that Oct 10 strike, the plant was targeted again, in January, February and May, each time with Shahed drones.
On Thursday night, Russia renewed its campaign against Ukraine's national energy infrastructure, breaking a loosely followed ceasefire Vladimir Putin agreed with Donald Trump in a phone call on March 18.
Russian forces have captured a village in Ukraine's northern region of Sumy, a monitoring group has confirmed.
DeepState, which monitors the front line in Ukraine, said Russia had taken the town of Loknia, which lies 30km north of Sumy city.
Russia claimed its forces had taken the city on May 24.
Sumy has faced an increasing number of attacks in recent weeks as Vladimir Putin pushes to secure a buffer zone along Ukraine's northern border.
Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the US to allow Ukraine to purchase air defence systems that can help defend the country from Russian attacks.
'We are working to strengthen Ukraine's air defence. We urgently need positive signals from the United States regarding air defence systems — we are still waiting for a response to our request to purchase systems that can help,' he said in his evening address last night.
The Ukrainian president also said it was 'essential' for the whole of Europe to jointly produce air defence systems and missiles.
One person was killed and another seriously wounded in Russian aerial strikes on the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.
The strikes came after Russian attacks targeting the regional capital, also called Kharkiv, killed at least four people and wounded more than two dozen others on Saturday.
Russia fired a total of 49 exploding drones and decoys and three missiles overnight, Ukraine's air force said this morning. Forty drones were shot down or electronically jammed.
A senior Ukrainian official claimed on Friday that Russia intended to seize half of Ukraine by the end of 2026.
Pavlo Palisa, who works in the Ukrainian presidential office, told reporters that Russia hoped to seize the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions by the start of September.
Moscow also wants to create a buffer zone along the northern Ukrainian border by the end of the year.
As part of the push to seize half of Ukraine, Mr Palisa said Russian forces would look to leverage positions in Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk to support their bid to seize the remainder of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russia could advance relatively quickly in Dnipropetrovsk - a largely flat region - given there are fewer natural obstacles or villages that could be used as defensive positions by Kyiv, Ukrainian military personnel have said in the past.
Moscow said this morning that it was pushing into Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in its three-year offensive, a significant territorial escalation.
Russia claims to have annexed five regions of Ukraine, but has not made a formal claim over Dnipropetrovsk.
The advance of Russian forces into yet another region of Ukraine is both a symbolic and strategic blow to Kyiv's forces after months of setbacks on the battlefield.
In more than a decade of conflict with Kremlin-backed separatists and the Russian army, Ukraine has never had to fight on the territory of the central region until now.
Dnipropetrovsk is an important mining and industrial hub for Ukraine and deeper Russian advances into the region could have a serious knock-on effect for Kyiv's struggling military and economy.
It was estimated to have a population of around three million people before Russia launched its offensive. Around one million people lived in the regional capital, Dnipro.
Trains with the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers will start moving to the border in an hour, Russia's Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin said on Sunday, according to state-run media.
He also said there were signals that the transfer of the bodies will be postponed until next week.
On Saturday, Russia claimed that Ukraine had unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers for an indefinite period.
Kyiv said Russia's claims were untrue.
Russian revenge for Ukraine's drone attack last weekend is not over yet, US officials have warned.
Speaking anonymously to Reuters, the US official said Russia's full response was expected within days. A second official said it would be a multi-pronged strike involving missiles and drones.
Russia launched an intense missile and drone strike against Kyiv on Friday, which Russia's defence ministry said was a response to 'terrorist attacks' by Ukraine.
A separate Western diplomatic source said symbolic Ukrainian targets, including government buildings, would be targeted in order to send a message.
Another diplomat added: 'It will be huge, vicious and unrelenting,' the diplomat said. 'But the Ukrainians are brave people.'
Last Sunday, Kyiv launched 117 drones deep within Russian territory in an operation code-named 'Spider's Web', striking up 20 warplanes, according to US estimates.
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