Russian forces shelled and bombed towns and cities in eastern and southern Ukraine on Tuesday, a day after Russia's foreign minister said Kyiv must accept Moscow's demands for ending the war or else suffer defeat on the battlefield.
Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces have repelled Russian attacks in the areas of two settlements in the Luhansk region and six in the Donetsk region, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Tuesday.
Fighting was particularly intense around the strategic eastern city of Bakhmut in Donetsk province and Svatove, further north in Luhansk province, Britain's defence ministry said.
In his nightly video message on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the situation along the eastern frontline in Donbas "difficult and painful".
A drone believed to be Ukrainian penetrated hundreds of kilometres through Russian airspace on Monday, causing a deadly explosion at the main base for Moscow's strategic bombers in the latest attack to expose gaps in its air defences.
Moscow said it had shot the drone down causing it to crash at the Engels air base, where three service members were killed.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.
Putin said he was open to negotiations, and he blamed Ukraine and its Western allies for failing to engage in talks.
The United States and its NATO allies together with Ukraine want to defeat Russia "on the battlefield" in order to destroy it, Russia's Foreign Minister
