RUSSIA STRUCK SEVERAL regions of Ukraine overnight, officials said this morning, reporting one person killed in Dnipro, while Moscow said two people died after a Ukrainian drone attack in the Rostov region.

The Dnipro Mayor, Borys Filatov, said one person was killed in a high-rise apartment complex.

Across the border, Russia’s acting governor of Rostov said a car caught fire following a drone strike.

“Tragically, two people died,” Yuri Sliusar posted on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials in Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia all reported coming under Russian fire overnight.

In Dnipro, residents were urged to take precautions during Russian attacks.

“I understand that there aren’t enough shelters, but I must say: during shelling, it is absolutely not advisable to stay on the upper floors, especially when there is an underground parking area available,” the mayor posted on Telegram.

Kharkiv Mayor, Igor Terekhov, said that his city had come under sustained bombardment “for almost three hours”.

“The enemy used several types of weapons simultaneously: guided bombs, ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones,” he added.

In Zaporizhzhia, Governor Ivan Fedorov said several fires broke out following Russian drone attacks, one of which hit a residential building while another damaged a farm warehouse.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing for a meeting with counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war, with Kyiv proposing talks by the end of August.

But the Kremlin on Thursday downplayed the likelihood of any such meeting being imminent.

Both sides have radically different positions at the negotiating table, and Ukraine has accused Russia of sending only low-level officials with no decision-making power.

Russia has called on Ukraine to effectively cede four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, a demand Kyiv has called unacceptable.

Ukraine meanwhile has been pleading with its Western backers to send more weapons for its troops to withstand daily Russian attacks.

© Agence France-Presse