Kiev

Ukraine brought the war far from the front line into the heart of Russia again Sunday in drone penetrations that Russian authorities said damaged two office buildings a few miles (kilometers) from the Kremlin and a pig breeding complex on the countries' border.

Fierce fighting raged Thursday in southeastern Ukraine, where a Western official said Kiev has launched a major push and Russian President Vladimir Putin said "hostilities have intensified significantly."

Ukrainian drones hit two buildings in Moscow and an ammunition depot in Russian-annexed Crimea on Monday, Russian officials said, as Ukraine reported another Russian strike on a grain facility.

Russia said it had neutralised two Ukrainian drones over Moscow during the night with no casualties reported.

Moscow states that the armed forces of Russia carried out airstrikes on facilities and places in the shipyard in Odessa where, as claimed, the Ukrainians were preparing underwater drones for an attack on Crimea.
Odessa and Nikolaev were attacked by "Shahid" drones and "Kalibr" missiles.

Russian forces have downed 28 Ukrainian drones over Crimea overnight, Moscow's defence ministry and a local official said on Tuesday.

Seventeen drones sent by Ukraine's forces overnight were "destroyed" and another 11 were "suppressed" by electronic means, Russia's defence ministry said in a statement.

It said there were no casualties or damage.

Intense diplomatic efforts are underway in Ankara as Türkiye seeks to renew a vital agreement between Ukraine and Russia, allowing Ukrainian grain to access global markets through the Turkish straits.

The accord allowing for Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea, crucial in easing a global food crisis sparked by the Russian invasion, has been the subject of grueling talks to get Moscow to agree to its renewal.

Russian forces targeted Kiev with a barrage of self-exploding Iranian-made Shahed drones early Thursday morning, according to the Kiev City Administration.

Russia's war in Ukraine will top the agenda when U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts hold a summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius over two days starting on Tuesday.

Russian air defenses on Tuesday foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow that prompted authorities to briefly close one of the city's international airports, officials said, as a Western analysis said that Russia has managed to slow Kiev's recently launched counteroffensive.