A Ukrainian military officer said Russian forces are preparing major breakthroughs on the battlefield that will continue into the next year, as Moscow seeks to establish a buffer zone along the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Colonel Pavlo Palisa told reporters in Washington on June 4 that Russia has set a goal of establishing a buffer zone by the end of the year and wants to capture all of Donetsk and Lugansk by the end of September.
"It's interesting, but they have plans even for 2026. The plan for next year is to occupy the entire part of the territory of Ukraine located on the left bank of the Dnieper River," he said after a briefing with US officials.
Another goal is to cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, he said.
Palis, who is deputy chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was part of a Ukrainian delegation in Washington as Kiev pushes for greater pressure on Moscow. He presented findings from Ukrainian military intelligence.
During the visit, US President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin warned him by phone of major retaliation for the Ukrainians' bold drone attack deep inside Russian territory.
Russian drone strikes continue to take their toll on Ukrainian cities amid diplomatic efforts. A Ukrainian official in Chernihiv region said Russian strikes killed five people and wounded six more in the northern town of Pryluky.
DON'T MISS IT
The dead included two women and a one-year-old child, who were found under the rubble, Vyacheslav Chaus, an official with the Chernihiv administration, said on Telegram. Six people were wounded and hospitalized, he said.
Russian drones earlier, on June 5, hit residential buildings in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, causing fires and injuring 17 people, including two children, regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said.
Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said seven apartment buildings were damaged in the attacks, which took place at around 17 a.m. local time. One drone hit an apartment building on the XNUMXth floor, the other on the second floor, Terekhov said on Telegram.
The reports could not be independently confirmed. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Kharkiv was a frequent target of Russian drones and missiles during the Russian invasion launched more than three years ago.
Ukrainian drone strikes on June 4 hit energy infrastructure in parts of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, disabling tens of thousands of residents, Russian officials said.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of Kherson region, said the attacks left about 68.000 residents without electricity.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the Zaporozhye region, who was appointed by Russia, said that energy facilities were attacked and ten drones were shot down. He did not provide figures on the number of residents without electricity.
This is the second time this week that people in the Zaporizhia region have been without electricity due to Ukrainian drone attacks.
Balicki said on June 2 that more than 600.000 people in nearly 500 settlements across the region had lost power after Ukrainian shelling damaged high-voltage infrastructure. He said at the time that emergency response teams had quickly restored power supplies.
When the attacks were carried out late at night, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu was meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. Kim told Shoigu that his country would "unconditionally support" Russia's war against Ukraine, North Korean state media reported on June 5.
North Korea confirmed in April that it had provided troops to Russia to repel a Ukrainian incursion into the Russian border region of Kursk.
Bonus video:
