MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday that it shot down 105 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including dozens heading towards Moscow, as the war in Ukraine heats up while major powers discuss ways to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
While Russia, Ukraine, the United States and European powers consider the sequencing of a possible end to the more than three-year conflict in Ukraine, the drone war continues and fighting is intensifying in some key areas of the front.
Russia's defence ministry said 105 drones had been shot down over Russian regions between midnight and the early morning of Thursday, including 35 over the Moscow region. The previous day, Russia said it shot down well over 300 Ukrainian drones.
Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow's mayor, said multiple drones had been shot down heading towards the capital, which along with the surrounding region has a population of 21 million people.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces were advancing at key points along the front, and pro-Russian war bloggers said Russia had pierced Ukrainian lines between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, the heaviest frontline battles were around Pokrovsk and made no reference to any Russian advances.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
