Russia carried out “massive” drone attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and port city of Odesa, killing one person and hitting a maternity hospital, Ukrainian officials said, calling for further sanctions.

Russia has kept up its attacks on Ukraine, which has hit back with strikes deep inside Russian territory, while peace talks held over the weekend failed to yield a breakthrough towards ending the three-year war.

Aside from an agreement to exchange prisoners, progress has stalled and Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire.

“Russia lies every day about its desire for peace and attacks people every day. Time to impose sanctions. Time to support Ukraine with weapons. Time to prove that democracy has power,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said on Telegram.

A 59-year-old man was killed in the Russian strikes on residential buildings in Odesa, and at least four others were wounded, said Governor Oleg Kiper.

A Russian drone is shot down by Ukrainian air defences over Kyiv

“The enemy massively attacked Odesa with strike drones. There is damage to civilian infrastructure and fires,” Mr Kiper wrote on Telegram.

“The Russians hit a maternity hospital, an emergency medical ward and residential buildings,” he said, adding the maternity hospital had been evacuated in time.

In central Kyiv, an AFP journalist heard at least 12 explosions, anti-aircraft fire and the buzzing of drones.

“Stay in shelters! The massive attack on the capital continues,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, adding in a separate post around 3am local time (1am Irish time) that “a new batch of UAVs (drones) is flying to the capital”.

Several people were reported wounded in the attacks that hit at least seven districts, with buildings and cars on fire.

Prisoner swap

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the biggest European conflict since World War II, forcing millions to flee their homes and decimating much of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian cities are targeted by Russian air strikes almost daily. On Sunday, Russia launched a record 479 explosive drones at Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Despite efforts by US President Donald Trump to reach a ceasefire agreement, a second round of peace talks in Turkey are at a standstill.

The only concrete agreement reached at the talks over the weekend was for the release of all seriously wounded or sick prisoners of war and those under the age of 25 – a deal that did not specify the number of soldiers involved.

People meet buses with released Ukrainian prisoners during the 66th prisoner exchange

While welcoming exchanges, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week it was “pointless” to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation – who he previously dismissed as “empty heads” – since they could not agree to a ceasefire.

On Sunday, the Russian army also claimed to have attacked the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, which borders the regions of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, already partially under Russian control, a first in more than three years of conflict.

“Time for everyone to finally accept the fact that Russia understands only strikes, not rational words,” Ukraine’s Mr Yermak said.

As a condition for halting its invasion, Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the territories Russia claims to have annexed and forswear joining NATO.

It has also rejected a proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire sought by Ukraine and the European Union, arguing that it would allow Ukrainian forces to rearm with Western deliveries.

Ukraine is demanding a complete Russian withdrawal from its territory and security guarantees from the West, describing Russia’s demands as “ultimatums”.

✕ Close Zelensky says Russia is ‘ignoring all peace proposals’

On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice

Ukraine ’s military said they struck two Russian fighter jets stationed at an airfield nearly 400 miles from the border, just days after conducting Operation Spiderweb.

Kyiv did not say how the warplanes were hit in the fresh attack launched by special operations forces on the Savasleyka airfield and there was no immediate comment from Russia. However, Russian war bloggers claimed there was no damage to any warplanes.

The latest attack followed Ukraine’s destruction of Russian bombers in a long-planned drone attack on airbases late last month.

In continued retaliation for that attack, Russia launched a massive drone strike on Ukraine overnight, killing one person and damaging swathes of Kyiv and striking a maternity ward in the southern port of Odesa, regional officials said this morning.

In London, meanwhile, Nato chief Mark Rutte warned on Monday that Russia was producing more ammunition in three months than the whole of Nato did in a year and asked the bloc’s members to amp up their defence spending.

By Agence France-Presse

Russia carried out “massive” drone attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and port city of Odesa on early Tuesday, June 10, killing one person and hitting a maternity hospital, Ukrainian officials said, calling for further sanctions.

Moscow has kept up its attacks on Ukraine, which has hit back with strikes deep inside Russian territory, while peace talks held over the weekend failed to yield a breakthrough towards ending the three-year war.

Aside from an agreement to exchange prisoners, progress has stalled and Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire.

Ukrainian Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak said on Telegram, “Russia lies every day about its desire for peace and attacks people every day. Time to impose sanctions. Time to support Ukraine with weapons. Time to prove that democracy has power.”

Governor Oleg Kiper said, “A 59-year-old man was killed in the Russian strikes on residential buildings in Odesa on Tuesday, and at least four others were wounded.”

Kiper wrote on Telegram: “The enemy massively attacked Odesa with strike drones. There is damage to civilian infrastructure and fires.”

He said, noting that the hospital had been evacuated in time, “The Russians hit a maternity hospital, an emergency medical ward and residential buildings.”

In central Kiev, an AFP journalist heard at least 12 explosions, anti-aircraft fire and the buzzing of drones.

“Stay in shelters! The massive attack on the capital continues,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, adding in a separate post around 3:00 a.m. (0000 GMT) that “a new batch of UAVs (drones) is flying to the capital”.

Several people were reported wounded in the attacks that hit at least seven districts, with buildings and cars on fire.

Prisoner swap

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered the biggest European conflict since World War II, forcing millions to flee their homes and decimating much of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian cities are targeted by Russian air strikes almost daily. On Sunday, June 8, Russia launched a record 479 explosive drones at Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Despite efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to reach a ceasefire agreement, a second round of peace talks in Turkey are at a standstill.

The only concrete agreement reached at the talks over the weekend was for the release of all seriously wounded or sick prisoners of war and those under the age of 25—a deal that did not specify the number of soldiers involved.

While welcoming POW exchanges, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that it was “pointless” to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation—who he previously dismissed as “empty heads”—since they could not agree to a ceasefire.

On Sunday, the Russian army also claimed to have attacked the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, which borders the regions of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, already partially under Russian control, a first in more than three years of conflict.

Ukraine’s Yermak said on Tuesday, June 10, in a thinly veiled criticism of the Trump administration: “Time for everyone to finally accept the fact that Russia understands only strikes, not rational words.”

As a condition for halting its invasion, Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the territories Moscow claims to have annexed and forswear joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

It has also rejected a proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire sought by Kyiv and the European Union, arguing that it would allow Ukrainian forces to rearm with Western deliveries.

Ukraine is demanding a complete Russian withdrawal from its territory and security guarantees from the West, describing Moscow’s demands as “ultimatums”.

Russia launched ‘massive’ drone strikes on Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv and port city Odesa in the early hours of Tuesday (June 10), killing one and also hitting a maternity ward, Ukrainian authorities said , issuing a call for additional sanctions.

Moscow has kept up its strikes against Ukraine, which has retaliated with attacks deep within Russian borders, while peace negotiations held over the weekend fell short of making a breakthrough toward stopping the three-year war.

Other than a deal to swap prisoners, efforts have been at a standstill and Russia has consistently dismissed demands for a unilateral ceasefire.

“Russia lies every day about its desire for peace and attacks people every day. Time to impose sanctions. Time to support Ukraine with weapons. Time to prove that democracy has power,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said on Telegram.

A 59-year-old man was killed during the Russian attacks on residential housing in Odesa, and at least four others were injured, governor Oleg Kiper said.

“The enemy massively attacked Odesa with strike drones. There is damage to civilian infrastructure and fires,” Kiper wrote on Telegram.

“The Russians hit a maternity hospital, an emergency medical ward and residential buildings,” he said, adding the maternity hospital had been evacuated in time.

“Stay in shelters! The massive attack on the capital continues,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, adding in a separate post around 3:00 am (0000 GMT) that “a new batch of UAVs (drones) is flying to the capital”.

Multiple casualties were reported during the attacks that struck at least seven districts, with cars and buildings on fire.

Russia and Ukraine swapped prisoners of war under the age of 25, confirmed Russia’s Defence Ministry on Monday, stating the exchange was the result of direct talks held between representatives of Moscow and Kyiv earlier this month in Turkey.

“On June 9, in accordance with the agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine on June 2, the first group of Russian servicemen under the age of 25 was brought home from the area controlled by the Kiev regime. In exchange, a similar number of Ukrainian POWs was transferred,” the ministry said.

The talks held on June 2 in Istanbul led to an agreement between Moscow and Kyiv for exchange of at least 1,200 POWs on each side, focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded, and to repatriate thousands of bodies of those killed in the war, which is now in its fourth year.

The exchange, the biggest so far, was expected to happen in phases. The Russian Defence Ministry did not say in its statement how many POWs were exchanged on Monday, but confirmed that both sides had swapped the same number of military personnel.

Russia launched another large drone attack on Ukraine, striking Kyiv and damaging a maternity ward in the southern port of Odesa, regional officials said on Tuesday.

The overnight attacks follow Russia’s biggest drone strike on Ukraine on Monday — part of intensified operations Russia said were retaliatory measures for Ukraine’s recent attacks inside Russia.

Medics were called to four districts of Kyiv a couple of hours after midnight on Tuesday, including the historic Podil neighbourhood, mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The military said the strikes were still ongoing and urged people to seek bomb shelters. The full scale of the attack was not immediately clear.

“Enemy drones are simultaneously attacking several districts of the city,” Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. “There is damage to residential buildings and fires. Rescuers are working at the sites.”

In the southern port of Odesa, a “massive” drone attack targeted an emergency medical building and a maternity ward, as well as residential buildings, Oleh Kiper, governor of the broader Odesa region said on Telegram.

A 59-year-old man was killed in the attack, and at least four others were wounded, Kiper said.

Regarding the maternity hospital, there were no casualties, and patients and staff were evacuated, Kiper said.

He posted photos of broken windows in what appeared to be a medical facility and of damage to the facades of several buildings.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched against Ukraine more than three years ago. But thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.