Ukraine army chief pledges to expand strikes on Russia

Ukraine’s top military commander vowed to increase the “scale and depth’ of strikes on Russia in remarks made public on Sunday, saying Kyiv would not sit idly by while Moscow prolonged its three-year invasion.

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Diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled in recent weeks.

The last direct meeting between the two sides was almost three weeks ago and no follow-up talks have been scheduled.

Russian attacks on Ukraine have killed dozens of people during the interim, including in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, according to officials.

"We will not just sit in defence. Because this brings nothing and eventually leads to the fact that we still retreat, lose people and territories,” Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky told reporters including AFP.

Syrsky said Ukraine would continue its strikes on Russian military targets, which he said had proved “effective”.

“Of course, we will continue. We will increase the scale and depth," he said.

Ukraine has launched retaliatory strikes on Russia throughout the war, targeting energy and military infrastructure sometimes hundreds of kilometres from the front line. Kyiv says the strikes are a fair response to deadly Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians.