ReutersCars and buildings were badly damaged after the Russian strike on the Dnieper.
Five people have been killed in overnight strikes in Russia and Ukraine as the two sides continue to trade drone attacks.
Ukrainian officials said on Saturday that Russia fired more than 200 drones and nearly 30 missiles, most of them at Dnipropetrovsk, where three people were killed.
In Russia, the governor of the Rostov region said two people were killed in the region after a car caught fire as a result of a Ukrainian drone strike.
The attacks came after both sides provided updates on their military operations, with Russia saying it had captured two villages in eastern Ukraine and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying troops were “gradually pushing Russian forces out” of the Sumy region.
Zelensky said that Russian strikes were also aimed at Kharkiv and Sumy, and added on the air of the X TV channel that these strikes “cannot be left unanswered, and Ukrainian long-range drones are providing it.”
He added that Russian military installations and airports “must see that Russia’s war is now hitting them back with real consequences” and said the Ukrainian drone attacks were “one of the arguments that will undoubtedly bring peace closer.”
The head of the region reported that six people were injured as a result of shelling in Dnepropetrovsk. In Dnepr, a residential area and industrial zones were damaged, and in the district, a shopping center.
Also on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said its army had captured two villages: Zeleny Gai in the Donetsk region and Maliyevka in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
In an update on X, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were pushing back Russian troops in Sumy.
He stated: “Although this region remains one of the enemy’s priority areas, our troops are consistently blocking attempts by Russian troops to advance deeper into the Sumy region from border areas.”
There have been reports of the liberation of the village of Kondratovka in this area from Russian control.
Zelensky added that over the past 24 hours, “51 intense clashes” took place in the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, where, according to him, troops are defending positions.
Both sides continue to trade drone attacks after a brief third round of ceasefire talks took place in Istanbul earlier this week.
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia met Wednesday evening, but the talks failed to produce any steps toward ending the conflict. Both sides accused each other of not accepting their ideas.
The first two rounds of ceasefire talks took place in May and June at the request of US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to see an end to the “horrible, bloody war” triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Source: bbc.com