The New York Times on Saturday quoted former senior Russian officials and US and other sources as saying Russian President Vladimir Putin has been signaling through intermediaries since September that he is open to a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The paper says Putin's intention was conveyed to the United States through multiple routes, including governments that have relationships with both the United States and Russia.

Putin reportedly proposed to recognize Ukraine's sovereignty with Kyiv as the capital while Russia keeps nearly the 20 percent of Ukrainian territory that is currently under its control.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to retake all the country's territory. The article also quotes US government sources as saying this could be a familiar Kremlin attempt at misdirection and does not reflect genuine willingness by Putin to compromise.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on social media on Sunday that Russian forces launched attacks on the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia with 15 drones, of which 14 were shot down.

Authorities in the country's southern region of Kherson say three people were killed and eight others were wounded in shelling by Russian forces.