Ukrainian authorities said yesterday that a commercial ship arriving to collect grain hit a Russian naval mine in the Black Sea, injuring two sailors.

Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship in Crimea with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast.

Russia launched 31 drones and 2 missiles at Ukraine overnight, mostly targeting the south of the country, with air defences destroying 28 drones and both missiles, the Ukrainian military said yesterday.

Russian bombardment killed four people and injured nine over 24 hours in the frontline southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the region’s governor said yesterday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called yesterday for a “severe” response to foreign agents who aim to destabilise Russia by aiding Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Russia would be prepared to talk to Ukraine, the United States and Europe about the future of Ukraine if they wanted to, but that Moscow would defend its national interests.

Frontline Ukrainian troops face shortages of artillery shells and have scaled back some military operations because of a shortfall of foreign assistance, a senior army general told Reuters.

Ukraine said yesterday that it had repelled two Russian missile and 20 drone attacks overnight, as Moscow reported downing 33 drones fired from Ukraine.

A volley of Russian missiles wounded dozens of people and damaged a children’s hospital yesterday in the worst attack on Kyiv in months, officials said, as Ukraine pleads for Western military aid.

Ukraine's foreign minister warned European Union leaders Monday that if they fail to agree to open membership talks with Kyiv at their summit this week it will have "devastating consequences".

Kyiv yesterday said that Russia had launched more than a dozen cruise missiles at Ukraine overnight in Moscow’s latest aerial barrage that left two dead and several wounded.

Russia launched a major drone attack on southern, central and eastern Ukrainian regions, damaging privately-owned and commercial buildings as well as infrastructure, Kyiv officials said yesterday.

Ukraine said yesterday that two people had been killed by Russian shelling in the southern city of Kherson, the latest fatalities in months of persistent shelling by Moscow’s forces.

Ukraine’s air force said yesterday that it shot down 18 out of 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones and one missile that Russia fired at its territory overnight.

One person was killed, 10 were wounded and four appeared to be trapped under rubble following overnight Russian missile attacks in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko and regional officials said yesterday.

Ukraine said yesterday it had downed 74 out of 75 Russian drones overnight, in what it said was the biggest such attack since the start of the invasion.

A third wave of Russian forces is attacking the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka and systematically shelling the centre of the industrial hub, its Ukrainian head said yesterday.

In a heated shelter near the eastern front line, Ukrainian serviceman, Dmytro, looked on as a mouse sniffed the air and then scuttled behind plastic sheeting insulating the walls and ceiling.

The Ukrainian army yesterday said it pushed Russian forces back “three to eight kilometres” from the banks of Dnipro river, which if confirmed would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv’s forces months into a disappointing counteroffensive.

Ukraine said yesterday a blast triggered by “local resistance movements” in the Moscow-controlled Ukrainian city of Melitopol the previous day killed Russian military officers at a headquarters of the occupation authorities.