KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Russia and Ukraine engaged in a series of intense drone attacks on each other's territories for a second consecutive day on Sunday. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that at least 35 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight across three regions in southwestern Russia.

One of the apparent targets of the drone attacks was a Russian military airport hosting bomber aircraft used in the war in Ukraine. Videos posted on a Russian Telegram channel critical of the Kremlin showed drones flying over low-rise housing in the town of Morozovsk, where Russia's 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment is based.

Vasily Golubev, the governor of Russia's Rostov province, confirmed "mass drone strikes" near Morozovsk and another nearby town, but did not mention the air base. Golubev stated that most of the drones were successfully shot down, with no casualties reported. The extent of damage caused by the attacks remains unknown.

While Kyiv did not officially acknowledge or claim responsibility for the drone attacks, an anonymous source in the Ukrainian security services told Ukrainska Pravda, a major Ukrainian newspaper, that the army and intelligence services successfully struck the Morozovsk air base, inflicting significant damage to military equipment. However, the veracity of this claim could not be immediately verified.

In a separate incident, Ukraine's air force announced that it had shot down 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russian troops in southern and western Ukraine. Additionally, a Ukrainian civilian was tragically killed when a destroyed drone fell on their house near the key port city of Odesa on the southern Black Sea coast.

The escalation in drone attacks comes as both sides seek to demonstrate progress in the ongoing war as it enters its second year. Despite a Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in June, neither side has made significant territorial gains.

Further violence was reported on Sunday, with Russian shelling claiming the life of an 81-year-old man in the central Ukrainian city of Kherson, which was recaptured by Kyiv's forces in the previous fall. Telegram posts by Gov. Vasily Gladkov indicated that Ukrainian and Russian forces exchanged fire near the Russian village of Terebreno, close to the Ukrainian border.

According to Baza, a Telegram news channel run by Russian journalists critical of the Kremlin, fighting broke out between Russian troops and a "Ukrainian diversionary group" near Terebreno, forcing residents to seek shelter. The Ukrainian military security agency, the GUR, later attributed the armed clashes to "armed opponents of the Kremlin regime" based in Russia.

In a tragic development, a 69-year-old woman was reported killed in a Ukrainian border village in the northern Sumy region, approximately 25 kilometers west of Terebreno. The Ukrainian regional prosecutor's office stated that the woman died when a Russian shell struck her home, although the exact connection to the reported clashes remains unclear.

Furthermore, multiple Russian "sabotage and reconnaissance" operatives were reportedly sighted crossing into Ukraine's northern Sumy and Kharkiv regions, as revealed by a video statement from a Ukrainian border force official. Ukrainian border guards and territorial defense units successfully repelled the intrusion, pushing the Russian operatives back into Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, expressed optimism about Germany's evolving stance on Ukraine's European Union (EU) membership bid. Kuleba praised German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his role in the EU's decision to initiate membership talks with Kyiv. Previously, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had opposed Ukraine's EU aspirations in favor of maintaining close ties with Russia.

The Ukrainian government considers EU and NATO membership as crucial foreign policy objectives, and the EU's accelerated negotiation process has provided a significant boost for Kyiv's ambitions. However, the timeline for NATO membership remains unclear, even though Finland's recent acceptance into the military alliance following Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to announce plans to strengthen military units near the Russian-Finnish border.

The continued escalation of drone attacks underscores the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides engaged in deadly clashes along the border. As the conflict enters its second year, the international community remains concerned about the potential for further escalation and the implications for regional stability.