Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of planning a new offensive, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
There are no signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seriously considering a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Zelensky said in his evening video address.
"We can see from the information received from intelligence and from data from publicly available sources that Putin and his entourage do not plan to end the war," the Ukrainian president said. "On the contrary, there is ample evidence that they are preparing new offensive operations," he added.
Zelensky said this showed Moscow's contempt for those trying to achieve peace, possibly referring to US President Donald Trump, who, upon taking office in January, presented himself as a mediator for a peaceful resolution to the war, DPA noted.
Large-scale attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian cities with ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 900 drones over the past three days were militarily meaningless, the Ukrainian president said. He added that their entire operation was nothing but destruction and reiterated his call for increased pressure on Moscow with new sanctions.
Last night, Russia set a new record by launching nine cruise missiles and 355 drones against Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force reported. It was the third wave of massive nighttime bombings carried out by Russian forces since Friday.
An air alert was issued over eastern and southern Ukraine after the military warned of Russian drone strikes on the Telegram app, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported airstrikes in Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions, as well as over the Black Sea port city of Odessa. Authorities said Iranian Shahed drones were also involved in the attack.
Local media reported explosions in Sumy region, located near the border with Russia.
It is not yet clear whether the strikes are of the same intensity as previous nights. Over the weekend and yesterday, Ukraine said it had recorded the highest number of Russian drone and missile attacks since the start of a full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
Russian forces have captured four villages in Ukraine's Sumy region as part of an attempt to create a buffer zone on Ukrainian territory, regional governor Oleg Grigorov said, as quoted by Reuters and BTA.
In recent days, the Russian army and Russian military bloggers have reported the capture of villages in Sumy region, which have been the target of frequent Russian air strikes in recent months.
On "Facebook" Grigorov wrote that the villages of Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka were now under Russian control. He added that their residents had long been evacuated.
"The enemy continues its attempts to advance, with the aim of establishing a so-called "buffer zone", Grigorov wrote. Ukrainian forces "are keeping the situation under control, inflicting precise damage on the enemy," he added.
Grigorov also reported that fighting was continuing around several other villages in the region, including Volodymyrivka and Bilovodiv, which the Russian Defense Ministry said yesterday were already under the control of Moscow's forces.
Meanwhile, last night the Dutch Defense Ministry announced that the last shipment of Dutch F-16 fighter jets destined for Ukraine had left the country.
The planes will first stop in Belgium, where their delivery to Ukraine will be prepared.
With these machines, the number of fighter jets provided by the Netherlands to Kiev has reached 24.
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans called the delivery an important milestone. "Due to daily Russian air strikes, the F-16s are vital for Ukraine," he said, adding that defending against Russian aggression was in the interest of Kiev's Western European partners.