Russian drone and missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed at least five people and wounded more than 30, local authorities said on Saturday.
The bodies of four people were found in the ruins of a house destroyed in the overnight attacks, Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Ganzha said, adding that people might still be trapped in the rubble.
One person died in a separate Russian attack on Dnipro Saturday afternoon. Seven people were injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were “11 people in hospitals in Dnipro after the Russian attack on the city”.
“The Russians have been hitting Dnipro and other cities and communities practically all night,” Mr Ganzha wrote on Telegram of the attacks, which caused fires to break out across Dnipro and partially destroyed several apartment buildings, businesses and a private house.
To the south west, two people were wounded in overnight drone attacks on the Odesa region.
Residential buildings, port infrastructure and cars were damaged in the south of the region, regional head Oleh Kiper said.
In Russia, a woman was killed and a man was seriously wounded by a drone strike in the border region of Belgorod, local officials said.
Following the overnight attacks, Romania’s defence ministry said drone fragments were found in a residential area of the southeastern city of Galati, near the Nato member’s border with Ukraine. No casualties were reported.
Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on multiple occasions.
The attacks followed a prisoner swap on Friday, in which Russia and Ukraine exchanged 193 service members.
Periodic prisoner exchanges have been one of the few positive outcomes of otherwise fruitless months-long US-brokered negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. The talks have delivered no progress on key issues preventing an end to Russia’s invasion of its neighbour, now in its fifth year.
While meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is open to continuing peace talks with Russia in Azerbaijan.
“We have already held such talks – in Turkey and with our American partners in Switzerland,” he said.
“We are also ready for upcoming negotiations in Azerbaijan, if Russia is ready for diplomacy.”
