Multiple regions of Ukraine targeted in overnight Russian air strikes, officials say
ADVERTISEMENT
Ukrainian officials reported multiple regions came under Russian attack overnight — including the Black Sea port city of Odesa.
Three people were injured and a residential high-rise building and shopping centre were damaged as Russian drones pummelled the city. Regional governor Oleh Kiper said the attack caused emergency power outages.
"This is another reminder to the whole world: the war continues and Ukraine continues to fight," the head of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said in a statement.
He said blazes erupted at at least three locations after the attack late Thursday. "Civilian infrastructure, commercial facilities are on fire, cars damaged," Kiper detailed.
Over 70 people and 20 fire engines were involved in extinguishing what the emergency services called "massive fires."
The attack came shortly before Czech Republic's President Petr Pavel visited the region to hold meetings with the city's leaders and officials from nearby regions.
Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba wrote on
Telegram
that "the Russian Federation launched three groups of Shaheds into the city" during his meeting with Pavel.
A separate Russian attack near the city of Zaporizhzhia injured six people, including a 4-year-old boy, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
It added that the attack caused a large fire, affecting several cars and residential buildings. Three houses were destroyed and several others damaged.
Three drone attacks also struck Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, causing fires to erupt but without reports of injuries.
In total, the Ukrainian air force said that Russia fired 214 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks. It said 114 of them were intercepted and another 81 were jammed.
Ukraine and Russia trade blame for Kursk attack
Separately on Friday, Russia accused Ukraine of attacking a gas metering station in Russia's Kursk region — an allegation that Kyiv denied.
The facility lies in Sudzha, a part of Kursk that Russia claimed to have retaken from Ukrainian troops last week.
Ukraine confirmed its retreat from the Sudzha area, but refuted claims made by US President Donald Trump as well as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian troops were encircled by Russian forces in the region.
Moscow accused Ukraine of deliberately attacking the Sudzha gas metering station in an "act of terrorism."
ADVERTISEMENT
In a post on
Facebook
, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the "station was repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves," calling the attack a "provocation" from Moscow as part of a "discrediting campaign against Ukraine."
Municipal workers clean up after Russian drones hit shops during the night attack in Odesa, 21 March, 2025
AP Photo
Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after US President Donald Trump spoke with the countries' leaders this week, though it remained to be seen what possible targets would be off limits to attack.
After a roughly hourlong call with Trump on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that 'technical' talks in Saudi Arabia this weekend would seek to resolve what types of infrastructure would be protected from attack under the agreement.
The three sides appeared to hold starkly different views about what the deal covered. While the White House said "energy and infrastructure" would be covered, the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to "energy infrastructure."
ADVERTISEMENT
Zelenskyy said he would also like railways and ports to be protected.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that the agreement reached between Trump and Putin referred only to energy facilities, adding that the Russian military is fulfilling Putin's order to halt such attacks for 30 days.
"The Russian military are currently refraining from strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in accordance with the agreement reached between Russia and the United States," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Operation Spider's Web: Did Ukraine destroy two Russian A-50 surveillance planes?
People are still debating the extent of the damages caused by the surprise Ukrainian drone attack on four Russian air bases on June 1. Kyiv said that the attack, dubbed Operation Spider's Web, resulted in the destruction of 41 Russian aircraft. US officials told Reuters that they estimated that around 20 planes had been hit. On social media, people have debated not just the number of planes destroyed, but also the type. Aside from a number of nuclear-capable bombers, some have claimed that the Ukrainian strikes also hit other high-value targets, namely two Beriev A-50 planes that were at Ivanovo airbase, located 250 kilometres from Moscow. These A-50s, the Russian equivalent of the American AWAC surveillance planes, are used for detecting aerial targets and for command. With its radar dome, the A-50 can surveil and co-ordinate the movements of both friendly and enemy aircraft, as well as missiles. Their limited number makes these aircraft even more precious to the Russian army. Currently, there are only seven operational A-50s in the Russian Air Force, according to specialist site Supporters of the Kremlin on social media have tried to deny the reports of the destruction of these precious aircraft. Lord Bebo, a Russian influencer who regularly shares disinformation from the Kremlin, took to X on June 3 to say that the news was a 'lie' and that these aircraft weren't damaged. To support his statements, the influencer shared a satellite image showing two intact planes. However, the image shared by Lord Bebo is misleading. It was taken at Ivanovo air base, and it does show A-50 planes. However, it has nothing to do with the raid on June 1. We ran this image through a reverse image search (check out our handy guide here) and we discovered that this image was originally published on the American website Business Insider. The photo was taken by the satellite image company Maxar on May 3, 2025, nearly a month before the Ukrainian attack. On June 4, the Ukrainian security services, the SBU, published a video from a camera that was mounted on one of the drones that attacked on June 1. The video proves that A-50s were indeed hit by Ukraine. At 1'31, you can see two drones hit the radar domes of the planes. Out-of-service aircraft However, even if these attacks on the A-50 planes were confirmed, they were possibly not as serious as you might think. If you look closely at the aircraft in the video, then you can see that they seem to be missing some or all of their D-30KP reactors – which means they would not be able to fly. According to Benjamin Gravisse, a specialist in the Russian armed forces and the person behind the Red Samovar account on X, Ivanovo received about twenty A-50 planes in 1998 that were supposed to essentially serve as 'organ donors", meaning that they would be used for parts for other planes. The planes hit by the drones have a red star on them, which indicates that they are a vestige of the Soviet era and have likely not flown for the past "10 to 15 years", according to the expert on X. Moreover, as the video released by the SBU cuts off at the moment of drone impact, it isn't possible to know if the planes were destroyed by the strikes or if they were just damaged.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
'Europe has more military potential than Russia: We are only scared to the degree we are unprepared'
08:27 10/06/2025 France's Le Pen hosts Europe allies in show of far-right unity 10/06/2025 LA protests: The rivalry between Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom 10/06/2025 In Syria, an ancient tomb complex uncovers beneath the rubble 10/06/2025 Strong tourist activity in Beirut despite the war with Israel 10/06/2025 Young soldiers freed in Russia-Ukraine exchange, but many still missing 10/06/2025 Trump deploys thousands of soldiers in Los Angeles due to protests 10/06/2025 Israel deports Greta Thunberg after intercepting Gaza-bound aid boat 10/06/2025 Activists to be deported after aid boat destined for Gaza was intercepted by Israel 10/06/2025 National Guard maintains presence in Los Angeles
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Hopes rise as US and China hold second day of trade talks
The gathering of key officials from the world's two biggest economies began Monday in London, after an earlier round of talks in Geneva last month. Stock markets wavered as investors hoped the talks will bring some much-needed calm on trading floors and ease tensions between the economic superpowers. A US Treasury spokesman told AFP on Tuesday the "talks resumed earlier this" morning. One of US President Donald Trump's top advisers said he expected "a big, strong handshake" at the end of the talks in the historic Lancaster House, operated by the UK foreign ministry. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday: "We are doing well with China. China's not easy. "I'm only getting good reports." The agenda is expected to be dominated by exports of rare earth minerals used in a wide range of things including smartphones, electric vehicle batteries and green technology. "In Geneva, we had agreed to lower tariffs on them, and they had agreed to release the magnets and rare earths that we need throughout the economy," Trump's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, told CNBC on Monday. But even though Beijing was releasing some supplies, "it was going a lot slower than some companies believed was optimal", he added. Still, he said he expected "a big, strong handshake" at the end of the talks. "Our expectation is that after the handshake, any export controls from the US will be eased, and the rare earths will be released in volume," Hassett added. He also said the Trump administration might be willing to ease some recent curbs on tech exports. Concessions? Tensions between Washington and Beijing have heightened since Trump took office in January, with both countries engaging in a tariffs war hiking duties on each other's exports to three figures -- an effective trade embargo. The Geneva pact to cool tensions temporarily brought new US tariffs on Chinese goods down from 145 percent to 30 percent, and Chinese countermeasures from 125 percent to 10 percent. But Trump recently said China had "totally violated" the deal. "Investors are willing to grab on to any positive trade headline right now, as this is keeping hopes of a rally alive," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at the Swissquote Bank, said that although there had been "no breakthrough" it seemed "the first day of the second round of negotiations reportedly went relatively well". "Rumours are circulating that the US may be willing to make concessions on tech exports in exchange for China easing restrictions on rare earth metal exports," she said. Rare earth shipments from China to the US have slowed since the tariff war was triggered by Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" announcements, according to Brooks. The US leader slapped sweeping levies of 10 percent on friend and foe alike, and threatened steeper rates on dozens of economies. The tariffs have already had a sharp effect, with official figures from Beijing showing Chinese exports to the United States in May plunged by 12.7 percent. China is also in talks with other trading partners -- including Japan and South Korea -- to try to build a united front to counter Trump's tariffs. Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung to work with Beijing to uphold free trade to ensure "the stability and smooth functioning of global and regional industrial and supply chains." "A healthy, stable, and continuously deepening China–South Korea relationship aligns with the trend of the times," Xi said in a phone call, according to the Xinhua news agency. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is heading the team in London, which included Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and China International Trade Representative Li Chenggang.
