Russia claimed Sunday that its forces are for the first time pushing into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, an area it has been trying to reach for months, in a move that could create new problems for Kyiv’s much-stretched forces.

By Guy Faulconbridge, Anton Kolodyazhnyy and Aleksandar VasovicMOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -Russia said on Sunday its forces had advanced to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a public row between Moscow and Kyiv over peace negotiations and the return of thousands of bodies of soldiers who fell in the war.

Russia said its ground forces crossed into Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time, a symbolic milestone in their grinding offensive as prospects for a US-brokered ceasefire remain elusive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Sunday to press on with prisoner exchanges with Russia and said any failure by Moscow to uphold humanitarian accords cast doubt over U.S. and other efforts to end the more than three-year-old conflict.

The large-scale attack comes days after Trump says Putin had "very strongly" promised response to Ukraine "Spider web" attack.

Russian officials say that Moscow is still awaiting confirmation from Kyiv on a planned exchange of 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action and is accusing Ukraine of delaying the process