Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine kill at least six

Russian missile and drone attacks killed at least six and injured 15 in regions across Ukraine overnight on Wednesday, regional authorities said — days before US President Donald Trump is set to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska for peace talks.

Moscow launched at least 49 Shahed-type attack drones, as well as two Iskander-M or KN-23 ballistic missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Air defences were able to destroy or disable at least 32, with several direct hits.

Four people were killed in the Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said, with one dead and four injured in a series of drone strikes that targeted residential areas.

Separate strikes killed one in the village of Chornobaivka and two civilians in a car in the city of Beryslav, Prokudin added.

"A house has been destroyed in the attack. Rescue workers have recovered the body of a 61-year-old woman from under the rubble," Prokudin wrote in a post on Facebook.

The strikes targeted residential areas and infrastructure, he explained, destroying a high-rise building, five houses, a cell tower and several vehicles.

In the Donetsk region, strikes killed two people in Kostiantynivka and injured 10 others, governor Vadym Filashkin wrote.

Another person was injured after strikes on the city of Vasylivka in the Zaporizhzhia region. In total, Moscow carried out 529 attacks on 10 settlements over the course of the day.

Russia has continued to strike Ukraine despite US efforts to reach a ceasefire deal. On Friday, Trump is set to meet Putin in Alaska for the first face-to-face encounter between US and Russian leaders since Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Despite the talks, Moscow's troops have launched a sudden push in eastern Ukraine in recent days, reports suggest.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Moscow is "redeploying their troops and forces" to launch new attacks on his country, despite external efforts to hold talks that move toward a ceasefire.