Ukraine said Saturday it struck an airbase in Russia, which continued overnight to use hundreds of drones in its stepped-up bombing campaign. The fresh wave of attacks signal a breakthrough isn't expected anytime soon in efforts to end the more than three-year-old war.

As part of efforts to reduce the Russians' ability to launch airstrikes, units of the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces, in cooperation with other components of the defence forces, struck the Scientific Research Institute of Applied Chemistry in Russia's Moscow Oblast on 4 July.

The district's administrative centre, the town of Sergiyev Posad, is considered the religious centre of the Moscow Region and a spiritual heart of Russia's Orthodox Church. The city's monastery, the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius that was founded in the 14th century, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.