Ukraine said the distilleries were producing goods for Russia's war effort.

Ukrainian drones attacked four plants, including three distilleries, in Tula, Tambov and Voronezh oblasts in Russia overnight on Oct. 22, Russian local authorities claimed.

This month, Zelensky presented his five-point "victory plan," first to the U.S., and it includes a push for Kyiv eventually to join NATO, as well as further security guarantees to ensure that Russia would not attack again. It is also comprised of three classified areas that were shared with allies.

North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday after being briefed by the national intelligence agency, an estimate that is twice the previous figure.

The war in Ukraine hangs over a Kazan summit aimed at showing that Western attempts to isolate Russia have failed.

Representing 41.1% of the world’s population and 37.3% of its GDP, the bloc aims to counterbalance U.S.-led Western alliances.

The U.S. slapped heavy sanctions on Russia after its Feb. 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including major blocks on the transactions of Russian financial institutions, banning U.S. imports of Russian energy products, and personal sanctions on Russian oligarchs in Putin's inner circle.

The U.N. Population Fund says Ukraine's population has shrunk by more than 20% since Russian troops first invaded a decade ago.

Ukraine's population has declined by 10 million, or around a quarter, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion as a result of refugees leaving, collapsing fertility and war deaths, the United Nations said on Tuesday.