Russia bombarded Ukraine’s second-largest city with massive strikes in the early hours of Saturday, its mayor said, one night after Moscow carried out one of the war’s largest aerial assaults on Ukraine.

Russia's claims that Ukraine is delaying exchange of soldiers' bodies are untrue, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, urging Moscow to stop "playing dirty games" and return to constructive work. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Saturday that Ukraine had unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers for an indefinite period.

Ukraine hacks Russia's Tupolev bomber producer, source claims ・Putin's 'disregard' for troops highlighted as Russian losses approach 1 million, study finds ・Ukraine expects to exchange 500 POWs in next swap with Russia,

A planned exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war failed to take place on Saturday, with Moscow accusing Kyiv of postponing the swap at the last minute, which Ukrainian officials dismissed as more “dirty games” from the Kremlin.

The United States assesses that Ukraine's drone attack over the weekend hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two U.S. officials told Reuters, a figure that is about half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

MOSCOW, June 4 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Pope Leo for offering to help settle the Ukraine conflict and told him Kyiv is intent on "escalating" the war, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday openly questioned the point of peace talks with Ukraine after accusing Kyiv's senior leadership of ordering deadly terrorist attacks on bridges in Russia that killed seven and injured 115 more.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and that the Russian leader told him “very strongly” that he will respond to Ukraine’s weekend drone attack on Russian airfields.