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The dead soldiers were from various regions of Ukraine, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's co-ordination centre for the treatment of prisoners of war said on Telegram.

But Russia has on more than one occasion demanded control of the full regions of Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson as part of any peace deal.

And in the southern city of Kherson, a 58-year-old local resident sought medical help after being attacked by a Russian drone carrying explosives, the regional administration said.

Emergency services were deployed across Ukraine, including in the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Kherson and Dnipro regions.

Russia's occupation of almost 20% of Ukraine would be de facto recognised behind existing front lines, in effect freezing the conflict in four Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.