ഉക്രെയ്ൻ ആക്രമണം ശക്തമാക്കുമെന്ന് സെലെൻസ്കി; തിരിച്ചടിക്കുമെന്ന് റഷ്യയും: യുദ്ധം വീണ്ടും കനക്കുന്നു

Russia will intensify strikes on targets in Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine following recent remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry said Russian forces would step up attacks on military facilities, defence industry sites and related infrastructure in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine.

Zelenskiy told Reuters in an interview that Ukraine will double down on attacking Russian oil refineries in response to a new policy of airstrikes by Moscow designed to force people to abandon Kyiv and other cities, but will not target civilians.

Russia hit a dry cargo vessel east of Odesa overnight that was transporting military equipment for Ukraine's armed forces, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

Russian drones also struck a Nova Poshta logistics centre in Chornomorsk and a data centre in Odesa, the ministry said, without specifying when the targets were hit.

The ministry said air defence forces had intercepted and destroyed 559 Ukrainian drones between 2000 Moscow time (1700 GMT) on Saturday and 0800 Moscow time (0500 GMT) on Sunday over multiple Russian regions and above the Azov and Black seas.

Reuters could not independently verify the claims made by either side of the conflict.

Russia said on Saturday it would continue to carry out targeted retaliatory strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities and urged foreign nationals and diplomats to leave the capital.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that "in response to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' terrorist acts against the civilian population and civilian infrastructure of our country, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are continuing to systematically carry out targeted strikes on military facilities in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities".

"The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again warns foreign nationals, including diplomatic mission staff, against staying in Ukraine or travelling to its territory.

"Responsibility for any adverse consequences lies entirely with those who ignore this warning," the ministry said.

Russia has recently escalated strikes on infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital, hitting a bridge across the Dnipro river in an air attack on Saturday. The intensifying campaign has upended life for the capital's 3 million residents ahead of the bitter winter months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Ukraine was paying the price for its own attacks on Russia and would continue to do so as Moscow's forces systematically strike different targets there.

Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on the other side's grain vessels in the Black Sea in recent months, while Russian oil refineries and other enterprises continue to come under Ukrainian shelling and Ukrainian drones kill civilians in Russian border regions.

Both sides deny targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.