KYIV, Ukraine, July 28, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A Russian drone on Sunday hit a civilian bus in Ukraine's northeast Sumy region, killing three people and leaving several wounded, local officials said.

Moscow has been firing record numbers of drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, killing dozens of civilians.

On Sunday afternoon, "the enemy attacked a bus with civilians with a drone," the region's prosecutor's office said on Telegram, alongside pictures of the destroyed vehicle.

"Three civilians were killed," it said, adding the victims were all women, aged from 66 to 78.

Ukraine has also ramped up its retaliatory strikes in Russia.

In Russia's northwestern Leningrad region "a man died in a fire caused by UAV debris," the region's governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said on Telegram, adding three other people were wounded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing for a meeting with counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war, with Kyiv proposing talks by the end of August.

But the Kremlin on Thursday downplayed the likelihood any such meeting was imminent.

Both sides have radically different positions at the negotiating table, and Ukraine has accused Russia of sending only low-level officials with no decision-making power to recent talks.

Russia has called on Ukraine to effectively cede four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, a demand Kyiv has called unacceptable.

Ukraine meanwhile has been pleading with its Western backers to send more weapons for its troops to withstand daily Russian attacks.