Night drones flood Russian skies: Two killed in Lipetsk and Tula
Russia announced it intercepted 155 Ukrainian drones overnight, with at least two people killed in attacks on the Lipetsk and Tula regions.
On the Telegram app, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that “air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 155 Ukrainian drones,” adding that 53 of them were shot down in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.
In Lipetsk, also located in western Russia, a drone attack caused the death of one person, according to the regional governor.
Igor Artamonov wrote on Telegram: “Tonight, a drone crashed on farmland belonging to agricultural facilities in the Khlevinsky district,” located around 400 kilometers south of Moscow, sparking a fire “that killed one person and injured another.”
Meanwhile, the governor of Tula region, about 200 kilometers south of Moscow, said a civilian was killed and another injured in a Ukrainian drone strike.
Ukraine has not yet commented on the developments.
Kyiv continues to launch near-daily aerial attacks on Russia, while Russian forces bombard Ukrainian cities almost daily in a war that has raged since 2022.
A new proposal
These developments came just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed that his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov had proposed a “new idea” regarding the Ukraine conflict.
The proposal came during a “frank discussion” between them in Malaysia on Thursday, the day after Kyiv was hit by heavy airstrikes that killed two people.
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its night strikes on Ukraine, especially on the capital Kyiv, sending a growing number of guided projectiles each time, as diplomatic talks remain at a standstill.
Amid this escalation and diplomatic deadlock, Rubio met with Lavrov on Thursday on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
He announced that the Russian minister had shared “a new idea or concept” on Ukraine that Rubio would convey to President Donald Trump for discussion.
“It’s not a new approach,” he told reporters. “It’s a new idea or concept I’ll take to the president for discussion,” adding that it wasn’t something that would “automatically lead to peace, but it may open a pathway.”
Rubio said he conveyed Trump’s “frustration” and “disappointment” during their “frank conversation” in Kuala Lumpur, citing the lack of progress in ending the war.
After two rounds of direct talks between Russians and Ukrainians in Istanbul, the Kremlin still refuses a ceasefire and demands Ukraine abandon four partially occupied regions and its NATO ambitions—conditions Kyiv rejects.
Signals from Kyiv
On Monday, President Donald Trump declared his intention to send “more” weapons to Kyiv, especially “defensive” ones, and the next day accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of spreading “nonsense” about Ukraine, hinting at new sanctions against Moscow.
Despite Trump’s pressure, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on reaching a ceasefire or lasting settlement.
No new round of talks has been announced since two meetings in Turkey in mid-May and early June that yielded little progress.
Ukrainian officials accuse Moscow of trying to “buy time” while the better-equipped and more numerous Russian military advances along the front.
On Thursday, the Kremlin denied that peace talks were stalling, even though no new session has been announced by either side.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked whether the talks were slowing down, said: “We can’t say that at this stage,” adding that Russia is waiting for “signals from Kyiv” to begin a third round of talks.
He affirmed that military operations would continue “as long as” Moscow believes its goals cannot be achieved through diplomacy alone.
From Rome, the Ukrainian president urged his allies to invest more in defense systems to counter Russia’s attacks.
