KYIV — At least six people have been killed and 21 others injured in Ukraine following the latest series of air strikes by Russia.

Five of the deaths happened in the southern city of Mykolaiv, while one person was killed in Zaporizhzhia, according to the authorities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that at least seven people, including two children, were hurt when an apartment building was hit with a missile in his home city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.

Russia, meanwhile, says it destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones near the western regions of Kursk and Belgorod. No deaths have been reported.

"Every day, every night, Russia unleashes the same terror," Ukrainian President Zelensky wrote on X following Monday's strike.

"More and more civilian sites are being targeted. Russia only wants to continue the war, and each of its strikes negates any claims of diplomacy from Russia."

Zelensky made another appeal for more weapons from Ukraine's allies and asked for "stronger global support" to stop Russian aggression.

Both countries on Saturday launched their largest drone attacks against each other since the start of the war.

Russia's defense ministry said it intercepted 84 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including some approaching Moscow, which forced flights to be diverted from three of the capital's major airports.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 145 drones towards every part of the country on Saturday night, with most shot down.

The barrages came after it was reported, initially in the Washington Post, that US president-elect Donald Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and told him not to escalate the Ukraine war.

The Kremlin on Monday denied that such a conversation had taken place.

Donald Trump has spoken to Zelensky since his election win last week, with a source telling the BBC that the conversation lasted "about half an hour".

Zelensky has previously warned against conceding land to Russia and has said that without US aid, Ukraine would lose the war.

Trump has promised to end the conflict but has yet to outline how he intends to do so.

While Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday spoke to Russian state media of "positive" signals from the incoming US administration, others believe the returning president will not abandon Ukraine.

They include UK Defence Secretary John Healey, who has said he expects the US "to remain alongside allies like the UK, standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes to prevail over Putin's invasion".

Meanwhile, reports of Russian advances in Ukraine continue. Moscow's Defence Ministry said on Monday that its forces had captured the village of Kolisnykivka in the Kharkiv region.

Russian troops reportedly made their largest territorial gains in October since March 2022, according to analysis of Institute for the Study of War data by the AFP news agency. — BBC