Battle for leverage sees massive blazes across Russia and eight dead in Ukraine as war explodes

Eight people have been killed in Ukraine and massive blazes across Russia have been set off in major cross-border attacks. The onslaught broke out as both sides wrestle for leverage during President Donald Trump ’s key trip to Beijing and amid a fragile Iranian ceasefire. Russian drones smashed into Ukraine ’s Dnipropetrovsk region overnight in strikes targeting homes, infrastructure and industry with 139 attack drones. According to Ukraine’s Air Force Russia launched 139 drones overnight, including Shahed drones, decoys and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Kremlin strikes were launched from multiple directions, from places situated within both Russia and occupied Crimea. Overnight exchanges were followed up by Russia breaking with the norm and launching a massive follow-up attack of around 200 drones. Ukraine’s capital was believed to be one of the targets of this morning’s post 9am drone wave as explosions were heard south of Kyiv. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned of possible waves of drone attacks throughout the day on Wednesday as Russia ramps up its daylight assaults. He said: “Russia continues its strikes and is doing so brazenly – deliberately targeting our railway infrastructure and civilian sites in our cities.” In reply Ukraine opened fire on Russia’s industrial base, setting off fires in multiple oil and gas sites with as many as 286 explosive drones. One of Russia’s largest gas facilities the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant was set ablaze after it was struck. Further north, a major blaze erupted at the Nurlino oil pipeline near Ufa in Bashkortostan after another strike. More blazes were set off in strikes throughout the country. It comes as both sides try to get leverage amid attempts to settle on a ceasefire deal and President Trump’s trip to China , with signs that Russian leader Vladimir Putin may now be under immense pressure at home to stop the war. Kremlin voices are already appearing to be more open to the idea of a ceasefire deal as Russian leader Vladimir Putin is under immense pressure to stop the war. He has lost well over a million troops to death or injury on the frontline. One Wednesday Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said Russia would welcome further US mediation efforts.He even said Putin was prepared to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in person once the peace process was finalised. He added: "And for that finalisation, in order to put a full stop to it, a great ‌deal of preparatory work still needs to be done.” Peskov also repeated claims from Putin on the war coming to an end and said a certain amount of trilateral work with Ukraine and the United States had been done towards winding down the war, now in its fifth year. He said: "This accumulated groundwork in terms of the peace process allows us to say that the completion is indeed approaching.” War in Ukraine has raged since February 2022 when the Russians launched their full-scale invasion from the north in Belarus and over the eastern border. Russian troops stand accused of having committed thousands of war crimes against Ukrainian civilians, including rape, torture, abduction and murder.