At least seven citizens were killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine overnight, including five in the central city of Dnipro, where officials mentioned an apartment building was hit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remarked the latest attack lasted “practically all night”, while rescue workers were still searching for survivors under rubble in Dnipro on Saturday morning.

British jets were scrambled from Romania during the heavy attack when Russian drones were detected near the border, though the UK Ministry of Defence rejected a report it had shot some down.

Meanwhile, Ukraine carried out some of its longest-distance drone strikes deep inside Russian territory.

In Yekaterinburg, almost 1,000 miles (1,600km) from Ukraine’s border, the governor noted six individuals were injured when a building was struck – while in nearby Chelyabinsk, a local leader mentioned drones targeting an industrial facility were intercepted.

Russian missiles and drones also targeted the northern city of Chernihiv, where officials commented two the public were killed, as well as Odesa and Kharkiv.

Ukrainian authorities noted they repelled the vast majority of the more than 600 Russian drones, which appears to have been the largest attack in several days.

Zelensky wrote on social media: “The Russians’ tactics have not changed: strike drones, cruise missiles, and a significant amount of ballistics.

“Most of the targets are ordinary infrastructure in cities. Residential buildings, energy, and enterprises have been damaged.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defence remarked it had shot down 127 drones over more than a dozen regions.

The department also stated it had taken control of Bochkove, a village in the Kharkiv region, on Saturday morning, according to state-linked news agency Tass. This also touches on aspects of geopolitics.

The settlement is close to Ukraine’s northern border with Russia, where invading forces have made repeated attempts to push further south towards the city of Kharkiv.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on Russia’s claim to have gained control of the village, nor has BBC News been able to independently verify it.

Elsewhere, Romania’s defence ministry stated it was investigating “the fall of an object” on its territory close to the Ukrainian border during the Russian attack.

It also clarified a previous statement which appeared to suggest that British jets based in the country had shot down Russian drones, which would have been the first incident of its kind.

It stated British jets “did not enter Ukrainian airspace”, and “no drones were shot down by the aircraft, because the drones did not breach Romanian airspace”.

With peace talks between Russia and Ukraine at an impasse, Ukraine continues to seek international backing for its military efforts.

On Friday, Zelensky met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the second round of talks between the pair in recent months as Ukraine seeks to broker closer ties with Gulf allies. Furthermore, experts in geopolitics note the continued relevance.

Saudi Arabia and its neighbours have a renewed interest in Ukraine’s drone warfare expertise since coming under Iranian attack in recent weeks.

The crown prince and Zelensky discussed strengthening air defence cooperation and joint military production, an official account of the meeting commented.

Additional reporting by Vitaly Shevchenko

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