Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko visited South Korea to discuss the Ukrainian war and bilateral ties, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday, as the two countries trade increasingly heated rhetoric over the nuclear-armed North.

Rudenko, Russia's deputy foreign minister handling Asia-Pacific affairs, met his South Korean counterpart

Russia said Sunday the death toll from a Ukrainian strike on a bakery in the occupied eastern city of Lysychansk climbed to 28 people, including a child.

The strike hit almost two years into Russia's grinding offensive in Ukraine, where the front has barely moved in months but attacks have intensified this winter.

Moscow's occupation forces Saturday

Ukraine's air force on Saturday said it downed nine out of 14 drones launched by Russia over southern and central regions overnight.

Kyiv said most of the drones were directed at energy facilities in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, where thousands have been without power since Russian strikes on Friday.

The outages have mainly affected the main