Russia announced on Saturday that its forces had seized two villages in eastern and southern Ukraine, continuing their advance despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s faltering efforts to broker a ceasefire.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Moscow’s troops captured Shchebraki in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and Panteleimonivka in the eastern Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia had launched over 170 drones into Ukraine overnight, striking multiple regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Khmelnytskyi. In Dnipro, a drone strike hit a hotel complex, killing four people and injuring 21 others, including a pregnant woman.
“Russia is mocking global peace efforts. It prolongs the war and spreads terror because it still faces no real pressure,” Zelensky said.
For weeks, the United States has been attempting to mediate a ceasefire in the Black Sea and to curb strikes on energy infrastructure in both Russia and Ukraine.
Although both sides have tentatively agreed to these truces, their enforcement remains uncertain, with Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of trying to undermine them.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a “transitional administration” for Ukraine under UN oversight—an idea that would require Zelensky’s removal—before any formal peace agreement is reached.