Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow says Estonia airspace incursion a ‘scheduled flight’ as Trump warns of ‘big trouble’

A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack struck multiple regions across Ukraine early on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, Ukrainian officials confirmed.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the assaults impacted nine regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Kharkiv.

“The enemy’s target was our infrastructure, residential areas and civilian enterprises,” he said, adding that a missile equipped with cluster munitions struck a multi-story building in the city of Dnipro.

Read more on Russia’s latest deadly air attack on Ukraine:

Britain’s top spy has delivered a stark warning that Vladimir Putin harbours “absolutely no evidence” of a genuine desire to negotiate a peace deal for Ukraine, accusing the Russian leader of “stringing us along”.

Sir Richard Moore, the head of MI6, who will step down in September after five years, made the comments in an outgoing speech. He noted that despite months of US-led talks and Donald Trump’s ultimatums, a truce appears no closer.

Speaking at the British consulate in Istanbul on Friday, Sir Richard reiterated there was “absolutely no evidence” the Russian leader wants to settle the conflict. Instead, he suggested Mr Putin seeks to “impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal”.

“But he cannot succeed,” Sir Richard said.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will meet US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week in comments made to reporters.

The Ukrainian president will hold “a meeting with the President of the United States” in which he will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, he said.

Mr Zelensky and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are due to address the General Assembly. Russian president Vladimir Putin does not traditionally attend the annual UN gathering.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukrainian forces are inflicting “heavy losses” on the Russian military in a counteroffensive in the eastern Donetsk region.

Ukrainian troops pressed on with a frontline counteroffensive around the two cities of Pokrovsk and Dobropillia in the east of the country on Friday.

Russia said its forces had captured two new villages in their slow advance through Ukraine’s east and south, but its Defence Ministry made no reference to the Ukrainian counter.

In his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said the counteroffensive had disrupted Russian plans in their longstanding objective of seizing the key tactical city of Pokrovsk, which is a critical part of Ukraine’s supply line to the frontline. .

“It was there that one of the most important directions of the Russian offensive was located, and they were unable to launch a full-fledged offensive there. Our military is destroying their forces,” Mr Zelensky said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia’s huge overnight drone attack attacks took place across nine regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv.

The Russian military fired more than 600 drones and missiles into Ukrainian territory overnight, Kyiv’s air force said.

“The enemy’s target was our infrastructure, residential areas and civilian enterprises,” Mr Zelensky said, adding that a missile equipped with cluster munitions struck a multi-story building in the city of Dnipro.

“Each such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to intimidate civilians and destroy our infrastructure,” he added.

Donald Trump has warned that a third Russian incursion into Nato airspace, in which three fighter jet spent 12 minutes in Estonian airspace, could spell “big trouble” for Moscow.

It is the latest in a series of provocations by the Russian military, which has repeatedly sent drones into Poland and Romania as Moscow argues that Nato is already “fighting against Russia”.

“Nato is providing direct and indirect support to the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “It can be said with absolute certainty that Nato is fighting against Russia.”

Yet as Russia stages incursions into Nato territory and organises major drills with Belarus, experts say that Vladimir Putin is testing Nato’s response through its more aggressive movements past Ukrainian borders.

Russian troops have taken control of the village of Berezove in Ukraine’s southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry said its forces had successfully carried out strikes with high-precision weapons on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities overnight.

The Independent could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

Russia launched more than 600 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said, in one of the largest air attacks of the war so far.

A total of 619 drones and missiles, including 579 drones, eight ballistic missiles and 32 cruise missiles, were detected.

Ukrainian forces shot down and neutralized 552 drones, two ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles.

“During the air strike, tactical aviation, in particular F-16 fighters, effectively worked on the enemy’s cruise missiles. Western weapons once again prove their effectiveness on the battlefield,” the Air Force said in a statement.