Ukrainian authorities say country was targeted with hundreds of drones in latest overnight assault
Moscow boasted of a 'massive attack', killing three people - having vowed revenge for Operation Spiderweb, the audacious destruction of its bombers last Sunday.
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Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine used only domestic drones in Operation Spiderweb, Zelensky says
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) used exclusively domestically produced drones and did not deploy any equipment from allied stockpiles in its recent attack on Russian heavy bombers, President Volodymyr Zelensky told ABC News in an interview published on June 7. "I wanted very much to use only what we produce and to have the separation (be) very clear," Zelensky said, as quoted by the TV network. On June 1, Ukraine launched a game-changing drone attack on four Russian military airfields, damaging 41 planes, including heavy bombers and rare A-50 spy planes, now largely known as Operation Spiderweb. The Kyiv Independent could not independently confirm the number of planes allegedly damaged and destroyed by the SBU. At least 21 planes were damaged or destroyed, according to open-source intelligence analysts. Kyiv has claimed it had disabled 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet in what is seen as one of the most daring operations during the full-scale war. To do so, Ukraine used one of the cheapest weapons already used on the battlefield — first-person-view (FPV) drones. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has been developing and deploying technological innovations and cutting-edge unmanned systems. Both Ukraine and Russia have increasingly relied on drone warfare, using aerial, naval, and ground-based drones for reconnaissance and combat missions. In late March, presidential advisor Alexander Kamyshin said in an interview with Radio Khartia that Ukrainian manufacturers have the capacity to produce over 5 million FPV drones per year. A year-and-a-half in the planning, and reportedly personally overseen by SBU Chief Vasyl Malyuk and Zelensky, Operation Spiderweb was an "absolutely unique operation," according to the president. According to the SBU, the drones were smuggled into Russia, where they were then hidden on the roofs of wooden cabins, which were then transported by truck to the air bases being targeted. When they reached their destinations, the roofs were retracted remotely, and the drones simply flew off towards the Russian bombers. In the interview with ABC News released on June 7, Zelesnky said truck drivers who transported the drones did not know anything about their role in the attack. "They didn't know anything," Zelensky said. "They just did their job." Read also: Operation Spiderweb — everything we know about Ukraine's 'audacious' attack on Russia's heavy bombers We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
'Putin Is A Murderer': Zelenskyy Rejects Trump's View Of Ukraine War As 'Kids Fighting'
Last Updated: Zelenskyy made these remarks in response to US President Donald Trump, who compared the Ukraine war to two kids "fighting like crazy" in a park. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia's Vladimir Putin a 'murderer", while responding to US President Donald Trump's comparison of the ongoing war with Russia to two kids 'fighting like crazy" on a playground. 'We are not kids with Putin at the playground in the park. He is a murderer who came to this park to kill the kids," Zelenskyy said in a clip from 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos" released on Friday. His response came after co-anchor Martha Raddatz asked whether Trump truly grasps the ongoing devastation and suffering Ukraine has endured over the past three years since Russia's invasion. Zelenskyy described the 'limitless agony" of a Ukrainian father whose wife and children were killed in a missile strike and said Trump 'could not feel fully and understand this pain". What Did Trump Say? In a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the White House, Trump said, 'Sometimes, and this is me speaking maybe in a negative sense, but sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other, and they're fighting in a park." 'You have two kids. They fight, fight, fight. Sometimes you let them fight for a little while. You see it in hockey, you see it in sports. The referees let them go for a couple of seconds, let them go for a little while before you pull them apart." Trump's remarks came after a Wednesday phone call he had with Putin, after which he acknowledged was 'not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace" between the two warring nations. Putin also told him that Russia would launch retaliatory strikes in response to Ukraine's drone barrage in several Russia airbases. At least three people were confirmed dead, while nearly 50 others were reported wounded in Ukraine, with the numbers likely to rise, Zelenskyy said. He stressed that Russia must be held accountable for the damage, accusing Moscow of striking cities and destroying lives. The Russian retaliation came after Ukraine launched 'Operation Spiderweb', which badly damaged the Russian military and destroyed many of its key bomber planes, including the Tu-95 and Tu-160.
Saudi Gazette
2 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Massive Russian aerial attack targets Kharkiv
KYIV — A large Russian attack with drones and missiles has hit Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials said. The barrage — the latest in near-daily widescale attacks — included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year war. The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon — especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprise drone attack on military air bases deep inside Russia. According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defenses shot down and neutralized 87 drones and seven missiles. Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X. 'To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,' he said. Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Terekhov said it was 'the most powerful attack' on the city since the full-scale invasion in 2022. Kharkiv's regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the injured were two children, a month and a half year old baby boy and a 14-year old girl, he added. The attack on Kharkiv comes one day after Russia launched one of the fiercest missile and drone barrages on Ukraine, striking six Ukrainian territories and killing at least killing at least six people and injuring about 80. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on the Kursk front inside Russia, the Ukrainian daily Ukrainskaia Pravda reported. No more details were given immediately. US President Donald Trump said this week that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday with "Operation Spiderweb" In a new statement bound to cause offense in Kyiv and amongst its allies, Trump told journalists on board Air Force One on Friday evening local time when asked about "Operation Spiderweb": "They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. That's the thing I didn't like about it. When I saw it I said 'Here we go, now it's going to be a strike'." — BBC
