A new wave of deadly Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities is fueling bipartisan calls in Washington for US President Donald Trump to use sweeping new sanctions powers against Moscow, with lawmakers arguing that greater economic pressure could strengthen efforts to end the war.

The death toll from Russia’s jet-powered drone attacks mounted in Ukraine while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that the Kremlin is preparing for a new mobilization at home and a fresh deployment of 10,000 North Korean troops.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on September 28 that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's treatment of his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, after their recent UN meeting demonstrates that Russia is not interested in peace in Ukraine.

Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine, killing at least six people, including an Azerbaijani citizen, and injuring dozens others, including 10 children, in strikes on the Kyiv region and Kharkiv.

Russian drone strikes killed at least four people in Ukraine overnight and into September 27.

Ukrainian troops trek nearly 20 kilometers to reach Bilozerske in the embattled Donetsk region. Russian drone and aerial attacks have laid waste to the city that used to house 15,000 inhabitants. Speaking with RFE/RL, one soldier said that "everything is bad" near Dobropillia.

Russia kept up its pattern of relentless attacks on Kyiv, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring seven other people in a drone strike on an apartment building in the capital on September 25, Ukrainian authorities said.