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We'll be back soon with all the latest from the war in Ukraine. Until then, here's a rundown of the main stories of the day:

• Officials said six people were killed in the last 24 hours as a result of Russians strikes across Ukraine;
• Russian state media reported Moscow's forces had captured a village in the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time in the war. Ukraine's centre for countering disinformation denied the report;
• Volodymyr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y says there is intense fighting and a major concentration of Russian troops near Pokrovsk;
• Russia's foreign minister says NATO's decision to increase defence spending will be catastrophic for the alliance and could lead to its eventual collapse;
• Finally, Germany's foreign minister said during a visit to Kyiv that Berlin hopes it can help Ukraine manufacture more weapons so that Kyiv can strengthen its negotiating position in peace talks.

Volodymyr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y says there is a major concentration of Russian troops in the Pokrovsk area, where "numerous assaults" are taking place.

Russian forces have been trying to capture Pokrovsk for almost a year, staging one grinding offensive after another. But despite having a clear advantage in terms of the number of troops and weapons available, Moscow has failed to take over the city.

"I held a meeting with the military and the minister of defence," ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y says. "We discussed all key issues in detail. The front 鈥� primarily the Pokrovsk direction. 

"There is a major concentration of Russian troops in that area, with numerous assaults. I thank all our units, every warrior, for their resilience."

ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y adds that Russia's offensive in the Sumy border region is "failing" and that Ukraine's objectives in the area have been "fully accomplished".

"We are also continuing active efforts as part of the Kursk operation," he says. "For nearly 10 months now, the operation has been fulfilling its goal." 

Vladimir Putin has been speaking about the "vast and substantial" benefits Russia could see in the future thanks to its control of four Ukrainian regions.

Moscow illegally annexed the central and southern Ukrainian regions Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk in 2022 after launching its full-scale invasion.

Speaking at a meeting concerning the social and economic development of "the new territories", Putin said that "smooth, methodical work is being done across all areas".

He says Russia must "fully unlock and realise this enormous potential" which will ensure a "powerful economic revival and growth in our historical regions".

"We have all the necessary resources and opportunities to achieve this," he says, adding that Russian people must be able to see "tangible improvements" so they will be willing to work and live there.

Here are the latest images from Ukraine, where soldiers are drilled near the front line in the Donetsk region.

Russian forces have reportedly captured a village in the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time in the war.

Russia's state RIA news agency cited an influential pro-Russian official, Vladimir Rogov, as saying that Vladimir Putin's forces had taken control of Dachne, just inside the central-southern region.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's centre for countering disinformation, said on Telegram that "fighting is difficult"in the area but that there was no breakthrough as of 1pm UK time.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Russian defence ministry. 

Russia occupies roughly a fifth of Ukraine's land and Putin has made formal territorial claims over five of its southern and central regions - Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russia has not declared ownership of Dnipropetrovsk, which lies to the west of Donetsk, but its officials threatened Kyiv during recent peace talks with taking more territory unless Ukraine signed a peace deal on Moscow's terms.

Germany hopes it can help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly so that Kyiv can strengthen its negotiating position in peace talks with Russia.

Berlin's foreign minister Johann Wadephul is in Kyiv today, where he has met with Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha (see 12.15 post).

"When Putin speaks of peace today, it is pure mockery," he told a news conference. "His apparent readiness to negotiate is only a facade so far."

"We want to build new joint ventures so that Ukraine itself can produce faster and more for its own defence, because your needs are enormous," he added.

"Our arms cooperation is a real trump card - it is a logical continuation of our delivery of material."

Russia's aerial attack on Ukraine two nights ago was the largest of the war so far, the Ukrainian air force says.

Moscow fired 537 drones and missiles at Ukraine on Saturday night and into yesterday morning, with the air force shooting down 475 of those.

The Russian attack continued for more than six hours, Ukrainian officials said. 

Drones and missiles targeted seven regions, injuring a dozen people, destroying residential buildings and storage facilities, as well as critical infrastructure around the country.

Russia has ramped up the scale of its aerial attacks on Ukraine throughout the last few months. 

In fact, all of Russia's largest drone and missile attacks on Ukraine have come in the past month. Here they are in order:

The Kremlin says it has taken note of comments made by a US senator sponsoring a tough new sanctions bill on Russia.

Lindsey Graham said yesterday that US President Donald Trump had told him the bill - which would impose 500% tariffs on countries like China and India that buy Russian oil - should be brought forward for a vote.

Graham called Trump's decision "a big breakthrough" which he said was part of efforts to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table on Ukraine and give Trump "a tool" to bring that about. 

"The senator's views are well known to us, they are well known to the whole world," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this morning.

"He belongs to a group of inveterate Russophobes. If it were up to him, these sanctions would have been imposed long ago.

"Would that have helped the (Ukraine) settlement (process)? That is a question that those who initiate such events should ask themselves." 

North Korea's state media has shown images of Kim Jong Un draping coffins with the country's flag in what appears to be the repatriation of soldiers killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine.

Pyongyang confirmed for the first time in April that it had sent troops to fight for Moscow in the war in Ukraine, after Kim signed a strategic partnership treaty with Vladimir Putin last summer.

In a series of photographs displayed at a performance by North Korean and Russian artists to mark the one-year anniversary of the treaty, Kim is seen next to rows of coffins, covering them with flags.

North Korea's state KRT television aired the performance, which was attended by Russia's culture minister, Olga Lyubimova.

Germany's foreign minister is in Kyiv today in a show of continued support for Ukraine's fight to repel Russia.

Johann Wadephul has met his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha and is due to meet with Volodymyr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y later.

The minister said in a statement that Germany will help Ukraine "continue to defend itself successfully - with modern air defence and other weapons, with humanitarian and economic aid".

Germany has been Ukraine's second-largest military backer after the US, but Berlin hasn't yet signed off on giving Kyiv the use of its long-range Taurus missiles.

This is due to fears that such a move could enrage the Kremlin and end up drawing NATO into Europe's biggest conflict since the Second World War.

Instead, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged last month to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets.