ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian cities of Kherson and Kharkiv on Saturday killed at least five people, coming as Moscow engages in a retaliation campaign for last week's long-range strikes deep within its territory by Kyiv.

The increased pace of Russian strikes comes in the wake of an audacious attack by Ukraine on Sunday, codenamed Spider’s Web, that consisted of 117 unmanned aerial vehicles that struck deep within Russian borders, with Ukrainian security services claiming the attack took out 41 military aircraft.

The recent Russian bombardments reportedly killed a couple in an apartment building in Kherson, while Kharkiv was struck by what Mayor Igor Terekhov called "the most powerful attack” on the city thus far, killing three and wounding at least 17.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russian attack entailed over 200 drones and nine missiles.

The tit-for-tat drone attacks come as peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow are proving frosty, with the only concrete development so far being a prisoner exchange agreed upon for this weekend.

Ahead of the latest round of negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country seeks “a full and unconditional ceasefire.” The Russian side, however, has long sought security guarantees such as prohibiting Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and caps on its military capabilities, as well as territorial transfers of land in eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia since its invasion.

 Russia currently occupies approximately one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, with the issue of land transfers likely to pose a major hitch in any peace accord.