The Russian army has launched a major airstrike on targets in Ukraine, DPA reported.
Shortly before midnight, anti-aircraft fire could be heard in the sky above the capital Kiev, a DPA correspondent reported.
Airborne warning sirens were sounded in more than half of Ukraine due to the threat of approaching drones. Ukrainian military observers reported several dozen Russian drones in the sky, flying westward.
Yesterday, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that its troops had captured the villages of Sukhetske and Pankivka in the fighting-torn Donetsk region.
"Our units are waging fierce defensive battles against the superior Russian enemy", said the commander-in-chief of Ukrainian forces, General Oleksandr Syrsky.
Six civilians have been killed in Russian attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine, local authorities said.
In the Bryansk region in western Russia, one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike, the regional governor said.
At least 14 people, including three children, were injured in Russian airstrikes on the northeastern town of Okhtyrka in Sumy region, regional governor Oleg Grigorov said.
Zelensky said these attacks show "the need for pressure on Moscow", including through sanctions.