Sawt Falasteen - Ukraine hits Russian city deep behind front line, leaves three dead

Izhevsk, more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the front line, has arms production facilities including factories that make attack drones and the world-famous Kalashnikov rifle.

A Ukraine security services source said Kyiv had targeted an Izhevsk-based drone manufacturer and that the attack had disrupted Moscow's "offensive potential".

Unverified videos posted on social media showed at least one drone buzzing over the city, while another showed a ball of flames erupt from the roof of a building.

The region's head said the drones hit an industrial "enterprise", without giving detail.

"Unfortunately, we have three fatalities. We extend our deepest condolences to their families," Alexander Brechalov, head of the Udmurt Republic, where Izhevsk is located, wrote on Telegram.

"I visited the victims in the hospital. At the moment, 35 people have been hospitalized, 10 of whom are in serious condition."

Russian forces in turn struck the town of Guliaipole in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, causing "casualties and fatalities", Ukraine's southern defence forces said, without specifying numbers.

Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stalled in recent weeks.

The two sides held direct talks almost a month ago but Moscow has since stepped up deadly strikes on Ukraine.

- Moscow ramps up advance -

Kyiv's military chief vowed in June to increase the "scale and depth" of strikes on Russia, warning Ukraine would not sit back while Moscow prolonged its offensive.

Moscow's army has ravaged parts of east and south Ukraine while seizing large swathes of territory.

An AFP analysis published Tuesday found that Russia dramatically ramped up aerial attacks in June, firing thousands of drones to pressure the war-torn country's stretched air defence systems and exhausted civilian population.

Moreover, in June, Moscow made its biggest territorial gain since November while accelerating advances for a third consecutive month, according to another AFP analysis based on data from US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

In another sign of an intensifying offensive, a top Kremlin-installed official claimed on Monday that Russia was now in full control of Ukraine's eastern Lugansk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly accused Russia of dragging out the peace process -- something that Moscow denies.

"We are certainly grateful for the efforts being made by Washington and members of Trump's administration to facilitate negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters including AFP on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump has pressed both sides to reach a ceasefire but has failed to extract major concessions from the Kremlin.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST