TOP HEADLINES

• A woman was killed early on Monday after Russian forces shelled the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, while two other people were killed by shelling in border areas of the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, officials said. Both areas are close to the front line. 

• Russia's air defenses shot down a drone over the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow in the third such attack in a week. Ukraine rarely publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia, but Moscow has blamed Kyiv for the increased number of drone attacks inside its borders this year.

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was seeing "significant results" from U.S. and German air defense systems, stating that Ukraine had shot down a significant part of Russia's attacks over the past week. That's despite a recent wave of aerial attacks by Moscow's forces killing six and allegedly destroying a blood transfusion center in what the president called "a war crime" of "beasts." READ MORE BELOW

• Russian air defenses had to defend against Ukrainian missile attacks on two bridges in occupied Ukrainian territory on Sunday, in a rare incidence of taking responsibility for strikes in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. One strike targeted a bridge connecting Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula, while a separate attack in southern Kherson wounded a civilian and damaged a gas pipeline, cutting supplies for about 20,000 residents.

• Russia and Ukraine carried out the latest in a series of prisoner exchanges on Monday, with 22 Ukrainian soldiers returning home, according to the head of President Zelenskyy's office.

• China's foreign ministry said international talks in Saudi Arabia on resolving the Ukraine crisis had helped "consolidate international consensus." More than 40 countries, including China, India, the U.S., and European countries, but not Russia, took part in the Jeddah talks over the weekend.

• A senior Ukrainian official said the talks to make headway towards a peaceful settlement had been productive, but Moscow said the meeting was "a reflection of the West's attempt to continue futile, doomed efforts" to mobilize the Global South behind Kyiv. The talks ended with no specific commitments beyond an agreement for further consultations.

IN DETAIL

Uptick in aerial strikes

Despite a recent wave of deadly Russian air strikes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was seeing "significant results" from U.S. and German air defense systems.

In his nightly video address on Sunday, Zelenskyy said advanced air defense systems, including the U.S.-built Patriot and Germany's IRIS-T, were proving "highly effective," shooting down a significant part of Russia's attacks over the past week. He said that included 65 missiles of various kinds and 178 assault drones, including 87 Shaheds.

Ukraine's military said later that Russia had launched 30 missiles and 48 air strikes, but "Unfortunately, there are casualties and wounded among the civilian population."

Both Moscow and Kyiv have stepped up attacks on each other's troops, weaponry and infrastructure as Ukraine seeks to dislodge Russian forces that have dug in across southern and eastern Ukraine since last year.

Ukraine has seen an uptick in Russian aerial strikes in recent weeks, with the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak reporting that two civilians had been killed and three others wounded during Russian shelling of border areas of Kharkiv region on Monday morning. A woman was also killed early on Monday after Russian forces shelled Kherson's city center, according to local officials. 

Meanwhile, Russia has reported a growing number of attempted drone strikes inside its own borders and missile strikes inside its occupied territories. Moscow said on Monday that it had shot down a drone heading for the Russian capital in the third such attack in a week, while officials on both sides of the conflict said Ukraine had struck two bridges linking Crimea to the mainland over the weekend.

The Moscow-backed head of Crimea said the Chonhar bridge to the peninsula had been damaged by a missile strike. Another of the three road links between Crimea and Russian-occupied parts of mainland Ukraine was shelled and a civilian driver wounded, an official said.

In Russia, Moscow's Vnukovo airport suspended flights on Sunday, citing unspecified reasons outside its control. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said a drone had been shot down south of the capital. The attacks followed what President Zelenskyy said was a bomb attack late on Saturday on a blood transfusion center in the town of Kupiansk, around 16 km from the front in the eastern Kharkiv region. 

He called the strike as a war crime, while Russia continues to deny deliberately targeting civilians or military hospitals in its assault on Ukraine. 

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