Russia claims advances near Dnipropetrovsk amid tensions over peace talks and war casualties

Russia announced Sunday that its military has advanced to the border of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, as both sides exchanged accusations over stalled peace negotiations and the return of thousands of fallen soldiers’ bodies.

Despite ongoing discourse around peace, hostilities are intensifying. Russian troops continue to gain ground in Ukraine, while Kyiv has ramped up its drone strikes and sabotage operations — targeting, according to Moscow, both Russia’s strategic bomber fleet and railway infrastructure.

Russian forces, which currently occupy nearly 20% of Ukraine’s territory, have seized over 190 square kilometers of the Sumy region in eastern Ukraine in under a month, based on open-source maps compiled by pro-Ukrainian analysts.

Now, the Russian Ministry of Defense claims that units from its 90th Tank Division, part of the Central Grouping of Forces, have pushed to the western edge of Donetsk and are now engaging targets in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region.

Kyiv has not officially responded to these claims. However, the Deep State map, widely followed by Ukraine’s supporters, shows Russian forces nearing Dnipropetrovsk, which had a pre-war population exceeding three million.

Meanwhile, Moscow has accused Ukraine of dragging its feet on prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of approximately 12,000 soldiers’ bodies. Russia said it is in the process of transferring the remains toward the border, though Ukraine has denied stalling the process.

Peace Prospects in Question

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has voiced a desire to end what he called the most lethal European conflict since World War II, compared the war to a dispute between children and suggested he might allow events to unfold without direct intervention.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, cast doubt on Ukraine’s willingness to negotiate peace. Speaking Wednesday, he blamed Ukraine for a deadly bombing in Bryansk — which reportedly killed seven and injured over 100 — just one day before planned talks in Turkey. Kyiv has not commented on the incident.

Ukraine, for its part, insists that Russia is not seriously interested in peace, citing Moscow’s refusal to agree to an immediate ceasefire.

Russia has laid out demands for any peace agreement, including international recognition of its 2014 annexation of Crimea and the acceptance of four other Ukrainian regions as Russian territory. It also insists that Ukrainian troops withdraw entirely from those areas.

As of June 7, Russia controlled approximately 113,273 square kilometers — or 18.8% — of Ukraine’s territory, according to Deep State mapping. This includes Crimea, nearly all of Luhansk, and large portions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, as well as parts of Kharkiv and Sumy.

Putin told Trump during a recent conversation that he would respond to Ukraine’s drone attacks on strategic Russian bombers and infrastructure, including railway lines.

According to U.S. officials speaking to Reuters, Russia has not yet fully retaliated for these attacks but may be preparing a major, multifaceted response.

Ongoing Attacks and Escalation

On Friday night and into Saturday, Russia struck the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with a barrage of drones, missiles, and guided bombs, killing at least four people and injuring over 60 — including an infant — local officials said.

In a separate incident, Russia claimed to have intercepted 61 Ukrainian drones overnight Sunday near Moscow. The attack prompted the temporary closure of two of the capital's major airports.