Russia and Ukraine have launched a wave of drone assaults in opposition to one another in a single day, whilst Moscow claimed it was finalising a peace proposal to finish the conflict.
Ukrainian air pressure officers stated on Tuesday that Russia deployed 60 drones throughout a number of areas by means of the night time, injuring 10 folks. Kyiv’s air defences intercepted 43 of them – 35 have been shot down whereas eight have been diverted utilizing digital warfare programs.
In Dnipropetrovsk, central Ukraine, Governor Serhiy Lysak reported harm to residential properties and an agricultural website after Russian drones led to fires through the night time. In Kherson, a southern metropolis incessantly hit by Russian strikes, a drone assault on Tuesday morning wounded a 59-year-old man and 6 municipal staff, officers stated.
The barrage got here days after Ukraine endured one of many heaviest aerial offensives of the conflict. On Sunday night time alone, Ukraine’s air pressure claimed Russia launched 355 drones, a document quantity.
That escalation prompted United States President Donald Trump to declare that Vladimir Putin had “gone completely CRAZY” and to threaten new sanctions. The Kremlin dismissed the remarks, accusing Trump of affected by “emotional overload”.
Russia stated on Tuesday that its large aerial assaults in latest days have been a “response” to escalating Ukrainian drone assaults by itself civilians, accusing Kyiv of attempting to “disrupt” peace efforts.
“Kyiv, with the assist of some European nations, has taken a sequence of provocative steps to thwart negotiations initiated by Russia,” the Russian Ministry of Defence stated in a press release.
The ministry stated its forces had shot down 99 Ukrainian drones on Tuesday, together with 56 over the Belgorod area, which borders Ukraine.
It claimed that from Might 20 to 27, air defence items intercepted greater than 2,300 Ukrainian drones – 1,465 of them exterior lively battle zones.
Russia seizes extra territory
In an additional setback for Kyiv, Russian troops have captured 4 villages in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy area, the native governor confirmed on Tuesday.
Oleh Hryhorov stated Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka have been now underneath Russian management, although civilians had already been evacuated. “The enemy is continuous makes an attempt to advance with the intention of organising a so-called ‘buffer zone’,” he wrote on Fb.
Russia’s Defence Ministry additionally claimed it had taken the close by village of Bilovody, pointing to additional advances close to the border.
Although Moscow’s essential offensive stays in Donetsk, its push into Sumy exhibits how Russian forces are stretching Ukraine’s military skinny throughout a number of fronts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned once more this week that new Russian offensives have been doubtless in Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.
Russian troops have been attacking in small teams on bikes, backed by drones. Ukrainian forces say they’re holding the road and focusing on enemy positions with precision hearth.
Army weblog DeepState reported over the weekend that Russia now holds about 62.6 sq km (24 sq. miles) within the area – the primary time it has secured a strip of border villages there.
Final month, a Russian missile killed 36 folks within the metropolis of Sumy.
![Handout photograph taken and released by the press service of Ukrainian army during a training exercise at an undisclosed location near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region [File: Andriy Andriyenko /Ukrainian Armed Forces/ AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/000_488G9G3-1748346027.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Europe undermining peace talks, says Russia
Amid new territorial features and escalating violence, Russia has shifted blame for the dearth of diplomatic progress onto European leaders.
Putin met Turkish Overseas Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday to debate efforts to finish the conflict in Ukraine, based on a supply from Turkiye’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs. Fidan additionally met Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday as a part of his two-day journey to Moscow.
Throughout the assembly, Lavrov took intention at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, suggesting his latest feedback on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons for strikes deep inside Russia reveal that the choice to greenlight such assaults was made lengthy earlier than it was made public.
Lavrov stated Merz’s assertion was telling – not just for what it implied about coverage however for what it revealed in regards to the present crop of Western leaders.
“This exhibits what kind of folks have come to energy in key European nations,” Lavrov stated.
Merz had earlier said that weapons provided to Kyiv by the UK, France, Germany and the US have been not sure by vary restrictions, clearing the trail for deeper assaults into Russian territory.
On Tuesday, whereas on an official go to to Finland, Merz stated Western allies had lifted restrictions on the vary of weapons despatched to Ukraine. He warned the conflict might drag on, citing Russia’s refusal to interact in significant talks. “We could have to arrange for an extended period,” he instructed reporters.
In the meantime, Moscow accused Ukraine and its European allies of intentionally undermining efforts to revive peace talks. “Since 20 Might, Ukraine has ramped up strikes on Russian territory utilizing Western-supplied weapons, intentionally focusing on civilian infrastructure,” it stated.
Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed on Might 16 – the primary in additional than three years – however did not lead to a ceasefire. Russia has since insisted it’s engaged on a severe draft settlement to finish hostilities.
“This can be a severe draft, a draft of a severe doc that calls for cautious checks and preparation,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated, including it had not but been submitted.
Overseas Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated the draft would lay out key phrases for a political settlement and potential ceasefire, and could be offered to Kyiv as soon as finalised.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of escalating assaults in latest days to derail the negotiations. In response to media reviews about doable new US sanctions, Peskov claimed Washington was attempting to sabotage the diplomatic course of.