Moscow says it intercepts and destroys 286 Ukrainian drones overnight.

At least six people have been killed and dozens injured in “one of the longest, massive Russian attacks against Ukraine”, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, despite renewed claims from the Russian and United States presidents that the war may be nearing an end.

Zelenskyy said the barrage began on Wednesday morning and lasted for hours, striking Kyiv, the western city of Lviv near the Polish border and the Black Sea port of Odesa, among other areas.

“Our soldiers are defending Ukraine, but Russia’s obvious goal is to overload air defences,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram, warning that cruise and ballistic missile strikes could follow the drone attacks.

In the southern region of Kherson, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said a woman was killed when a Russian drone struck a bus in the town of Bilozerka.

Another drone attack in the western region of Rivne killed three people and injured four, according to Governor Oleksandr Koval.

In the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, authorities said a 60-year-old man was killed when Russian forces attacked a community near the city of Zolochiv with first-person view drones. Police said two homes and several outbuildings were damaged.

Farther south, Governor Ivan Fedorov said a 76-year-old man was killed in an attack on an agricultural enterprise in the region of Zaporizhia.

“The Russians attacked the territory of one of the agricultural enterprises with a guided aerial bomb,” Fedorov wrote on Telegram. “The blast wave and debris damaged the buildings.”

Fighting continues despite talk of peace

The latest attacks were carried out as US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, suggested that the more than four-year war could be approaching an end.

Trump said on Tuesday that he believed Moscow and Kyiv would “soon reach a deal” to end the fighting.

“The end of the war in Ukraine I really think is getting very close,” Trump told reporters before departing the White House for a summit in Beijing. “Believe it or not, it’s getting closer.”

Putin also said last weekend that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was possibly “coming to an end”.

Al Jazeera’s Audrew MacAlpine said hundreds of drones were launched across Ukraine overnight on Wednesday, striking regions far from the front lines and leaving people dead and injured.

“The target is allegedly energy infrastructure but also civilian areas have been damaged in the process,” she said.

MacAlpine added that despite the escalating attacks, Kyiv says it still believes diplomacy remains possible.

“Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on Wednesday speaking to the Bucharest Nine and other Nordic leaders said Ukraine hasn’t given up on diplomacy,” she said. “He also added that he hopes US President Donald Trump in his meeting with [Chinese leader] Xi convinces them to put pressure on Moscow to end the war.”

Ukraine strikes Russia

However, fighting continued on both sides of the border.

In Russia’s Bryansk region, Governor Alexander Bogomaz said Ukrainian drones injured two people in the village of Antonovka. Eight homes and a civilian car were damaged, he said.

In the Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Moscow-installed Governor Volodymyr Saldo said two women were killed in separate drone attacks in the cities of Oleshky and Hola Prystan, and a man was injured in the community of Velyka Lepetykha.

In Russia’s Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said four people were injured in recent drone attacks, including three in the village of Bessonovka.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces intercepted and destroyed 286 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions, including Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Rostov as well as over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.