Russia must strengthen air defences after strikes - Putin

Russia must strengthen its air defences, President Vladimir Putin said, a day after Ukrainian drones struck an oil terminal and naval base in Saint Petersburg where a key economic forum is taking place.

"Russia has an air defence system. Yes, we must improve it. Yes, we must strengthen it. And we will do so," the Russian leader said, speaking on the sidelines of the flagship Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

He added that Russia was considering expanding the use of its hypersonic Oreshnik missile against cities in Ukraine, saying the weapon had not yet been used in the "full sense of the word".

He has repeatedly said that the missile - which travels 10 times the speed of sound - is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Russia has fired the missile at Ukraine on at least three occasions.

He also said Russia was opposed to the European Union becoming a military bloc, describing this as a cause for concern.

Zelensky invites Putin to talks to end the war in open letter

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published an open letter to Mr Putin in which he proposed the two leaders meet to agree an end to the war, warning that Kyiv stood ready to fight on otherwise.

In his letter, Mr Zelensky said the majority of Russians had grown tired of Ukrainian missile and drones attacks, inflation and fuel shortages, and were ready for peace.

"If you do not personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue fighting for its existence," Mr Zelensky said, warning that this could threaten Mr Putin's personal position.

"It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia grows tired, change comes."

Mr Putin told reporters that he thought the EU could play a positive role persuading Ukraine to compromise for a peace deal, but that he thought that Kyiv was not ready for compromises.

When asked about whether Russia's offensive against Ukraine had become a "strategic disaster", Mr Putin said that Russia was "advancing along the entire line of contact".

"We are absolutely ready and willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine through peaceful means," he added.

The pace of Russia's advance has slowed since late 2025, and recent data shows Ukraine has regained ground against Russia.

Ukraine recaptured more territory than it lost to Russian forces in May for the second straight month, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.

It comes as Ukrainian attacks killed four people in the Russia-annexed Crimea peninsula, Kremlin-installed officials in the region have said, one day after Moscow and Kyiv traded strikes on each other's cities.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea, said Ukrainian forces had hit a non-residential part of Simferopol, the peninsula's main administrative town, killing three people and injuring seven.

Mr Aksyonov later said on Telegram that one person had been killed and three wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a commuter train in eastern Crimea.

Ukraine did not immediately comment.

In the Crimean port of Sevastopol, the local Russia-installed governor said air defence units had intercepted more than 20 Ukrainian drones.

He made no mention of casualties, but said drone debris had damaged some buildings.

Russia seized and annexed Crimea in 2014 - long before its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine - after public protests in Kyiv prompted a Moscow-friendly president to flee Ukraine. Crimea is a popular destination for Russian tourists.

The region has taken measures to tackle fuel shortages after increasing Ukrainian strikes on oil industry targets, some deep inside Russia.

Stalled talks

US-brokered talks aimed at moving towards an end to the more than four-year-old war have stalled as Washington remains focused on its war with Iran.

Russian shelling yesterday killed at least three civilians in Kramatorsk, one of Ukraine's "fortress cities" near the front line, and eight people were injured near the city of Dnipro, local and regional officials said.

Today, firefighters were extinguishing a blaze in the Boryspil area outside Kyiv after an industrial facility was hit in a drone attack, with one person injured, Ukraine's emergency service said.

In Russia's border region of Bryansk, the acting regional governor said a Ukrainian drone had killed a crane operator.

Ukrainian attacks on Moscow's oil industry included a strike on an oil terminal in St Petersburg on Wednesday. Mr Zelenskiy said such strikes enable Ukraine "to end this war on equal footing".

Twenty-three people were killed in attacks on Ukrainian cities on Tuesday after Moscow said it would launch "systematic" strikes in following a drone attack on a dormitory in Russian-occupied territory. Ukraine denies attacking the dormitory.