On Sunday, Russia announced that it had intercepted and destroyed 36 unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula. Ukraine, which has been increasing its efforts against Russia, has not issued a statement regarding the attack that occurred overnight.

The G7 trade ministers released a collective statement on Sunday during their meeting in Japan, denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “brutal, unprovoked, unjustifiable, and illegal war of aggression.”

According to the British Defense Ministry, Russian universities have allegedly been directed to refrain from discussing any negative opinions about political, economic, and social developments in Russia during academic events.

The ministry stated that this action is another example of limiting the flow of information in Russia during war time, which hinders open discussions about policy matters.

The ministry stated that this limitation may contribute to the continuation of Russian policy-making being confined to politically approved, pro-Kremlin viewpoints as President Vladimir Putin prepares to run for reelection in March. This was mentioned by the British ministry.

In his regular speech on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted the significance of holding the Malta summit on the same day as Ukraine’s observance of World War II and the Nazi expulsion from its land.

The meeting happening in Malta marks the third stage of peace negotiations supported by Ukraine, with over 60 countries participating to discuss Zelenskyy’s 10-point proposal for ending the conflict. Previous meetings were held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Copenhagen, Denmark earlier this year.

During his regular speech, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude towards Ukraine’s border guards who are currently actively involved in efforts to achieve peace alongside the country’s defense and security forces.

The Russian government blamed Ukraine for a drone strike on the nuclear waste storage facility at the Kursk nuclear power plant, stating that their air defense system successfully intercepted and took down eight Ukrainian drones.

On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that on Thursday night, a power plant was attacked by three drones carrying explosives. The administration building and a storage facility for nuclear waste were hit. The press service for the Kursk nuclear power plant confirmed the attack on Friday, but stated that there was minimal damage and no injuries. Operations at the plant are still ongoing.

Intense conflict has persisted in and around the significant city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

The air force of Ukraine reported that they successfully destroyed three out of four Iskander cruise missiles in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday night.

There were few instances of documented bombings over the weekend, following a period of intense clashes near Avdiivka. According to the Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who spoke with U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin on Saturday, Russia suffered an estimated loss of 4,000 soldiers in Avdiivka, as reported by Kyiv’s Defense Ministry.