Kyiv’s strikes on Russia over the weekend, which also set fire to a major oil terminal on Saturday, follow a mass bombardment of Ukraine by Moscow on Friday. Russia fired 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones at its neighbour, battering Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Russia’s troops also continue their slow advance in eastern Ukraine. Washington think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, reported that geolocated footage placed Russian forces inside the settlement of Kurakhove, which Moscow’s troops had besieged for weeks after surrounding it on three sides.

The push compounds further uncertainty about how the war might unfold next year, with US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, sparking doubt as to whether vital US military support for Kyiv will continue.

In an interview in TIME magazine Thursday, Trump said that he was against allowing Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil using US-provided weapons.

Meanwhile, Russia launched 108 drones on Ukraine from Saturday night, the Ukrainian air force said. It said 56 drones were shot down by air defences, another 49 disappeared from radar after failing to reach their targets and three more drones returned to Russia.

Governor Vitalii Kim said that two people were injured in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv as a result of the attack, which also damaged local infrastructure.

AP

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