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Ukraine has warned that Russia is not abandoning its intentions to break into the Dnipropetrovsk region.

We reported earlier today, see our 10.17 post, on Russian claims its troops had reached the area, located on the western border of the Donetsk region and northern border of the Zaporizhzhia region.

We're able to bring you more news on the ongoing offensive now, as it seems that fighting has reached the border of the region.

"The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region," Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said.

"Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute."

Offensive comes as peace talks flounder

The attack comes as peace talks continued to make little progress this past week.

The Russian defence ministry claimed units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces were attacking an area adjacent to the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, warned that if Ukraine did not bow to Russian demands, the Dnipropetrovsk offensive showed Moscow's attacks would only continue.

This once again raises questions of Russia's commitment to any lasting peace.

The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Elsewhere along the frontline...

A spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, Dmytro Zaporozhets, said Russian forces were trying to "build a bridgehead for an attack" on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army.

Kostyantynivka is located north of the city of Donetsk, in the Donetsk region.

The Russian defence ministry has released images of what it says are lorries carrying the refrigerated bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.

They have been transported to a so-called exchange area near Novaya Guta, Belarus, which borders Ukraine, but Kyiv said yesterday Russia was acting unilaterally.

No date had been agreed to swap the bodies of deceased soldiers, Ukrainian officials had said.

Volodymyr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y has released a video calling on the US to allow Ukraine to purchase much-needed air defence systems.

The Ukrainian leader said his team had not received any response from the US after making a request.

"The Russians are preparing to continue the war and are ignoring all peace proposals," he said.

"What the Russians want is the complete destruction of life.

"In more than eleven years of Russia's war against Ukraine, they have brought only one new thing to our land, the most widespread Russian 'legacy', ruins and death."

New footage shows the journey of a Ukrainian drone smuggled into Russia to attack a Russian airbase on 1 June.

The drone takes off across fields before showing burning planes littering the tarmac. 

It was part of Ukraine's audacious Operation Spider's Web, which you can read more about in our post at 8.06am.

Sanctions on Russia are insufficient to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table - only US military aid can do so, according to a leading think thank.

Putin believes he can make creeping advances on the battlefield longer than Ukraine can defend it and than the West is willing to lend its support, the Institute for the Study of War said.

Higher, unsustainable Russian casualty rates would "risk Putin's efforts to balance 'butter and guns' and maintain domestic support", said the ISW.

"The United States must continue equipping Ukrainian soldiers as Russia's battlefield losses remain the key driver of Russia's current materiel, manpower, and economic problems.

"Western aid, particularly of weapons systems that only the United States can provide at scale and quickly, would allow Ukrainian forces to better defend their positions, slow Russian advances, and inflict even more serious losses on the Russian military."

Putin's strategy of incremental gains will "very likely" continue to guide his refusal to engage in peace negotiations, the ISW said.

Pictures show Ukrainian soldiers loading a rocket launcher on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The 31st Separate Mechanised Brigade was firing a BM-21 Grad multiple launcher from a poppy field toward Russian troops.

 Russia claims it has reached the Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine, according to reports.

Dnipropetrovsk is located on the western border of the Donetsk region and northern border of the Zaporizhzhia region.

The Russian defence ministry said a tank division had advanced to the western border of Donetsk and was continuing its advance into Dnipropetrovsk, news agency reported.

Last month, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration Serhiy Lysak said Russia was spreading disinformation about entering the region to sow panic.

Sky News cannot independently verify these battlefield reports.

On Friday, the Institute for the Study of War assessed the control zones to be as follows...

Trains transporting the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers will start moving to the border in an hour, according to Russian state media 

TASS quoted Russia's Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin as saying there were also signals that the transfer of the bodies will be postponed until next week. 

It's the latest in a series of ambiguous comments from Moscow, which yesterday accused Ukraine of delaying the exchange of prisoners and bodies.

Ukraine denied the allegation, saying Russia had not stuck to the agreement over which prisoners it wanted released and was acting unilaterally over the bodies of deceased soldiers, as no swap date had been agreed.

The Institute for the Study of War assessed that Russia was attempting to undermine the prisoner swap and confidence in wider peace negotiations.

Russia launched a drone and missile attack against Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Some 49 attack drones assaulted the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, in the northeast and southeast of Ukraine, respectively.

Russian forces also fired three missiles from occupied Crimea and Zaporizhzhia. 

"The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of the defence forces of Ukraine," said the Ukrainian airforce.

Defences took down 40 of the drones, it said.

Russia's accusation that Ukraine was delaying a prisoner of war exchange is baseless, says a leading think tank.

The blame game is part of the Kremlin's efforts to undermine the confidence-building measure and wider peace negotiations, the Institute for the Study of War said.

Ukraine and Russia were set to exchange 500 prisoners of war each this weekend, after an agreement was reached to swap up to 1,200 soldiers each at talks in Istanbul and to repatriate the bodies of dead soldiers.

"The Kremlin remains committed to promoting narratives that vilify Ukraine, likely to socialise its domestic audience ahead of Russia's possible rejection of any peace agreement in the future and to discredit Ukraine on the international stage," said the ISW.

"The Kremlin's unwillingness to engage in good faith in lower-level confidence-building measures designed to facilitate larger peace negotiations further demonstrates Russia's disinterest in peace negotiations."

Kremlin aide Vladimir MedinAG百家乐在线官网 had said the Russian defence ministry's contact group was on the border with Ukraine to meet Ukrainian negotiators yesterday, but they did not turn up.

Ukraine said the list of prisoners Russia wanted returned did not meet the criteria agreed in Istanbul: young, wounded, or seriously ill soldiers.

MedinAG百家乐在线官网 also said that 1,212 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers were in refrigerated containers at the exchange point.

Ukraine said a date had not been agreed for their repatriation.

"Instead of consistently implementing the agreed algorithm, the Russian side resorted to unilateral actions that were not agreed upon within the framework of the joint process."