Russia says it has launched offensive in Dnipropetrovsk, eastern Ukraine
Russia says its forces have launched an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region of eastern Ukraine. The AFP news agency says Russia is pushing into the region for the first time in its three-year invasion.
The Russian defense ministry said on Sunday that forces from a tank division had reached the western border of Donetsk and are continuing to develop an offensive in Dnipropetrovsk.
Elsewhere in Ukraine's east, Russian forces hit Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv with missiles, drones and guided bombs on Saturday. Local police say at least five people were killed.
Kharkiv's mayor condemned the attack, describing it as the most powerful so far.
On Friday, Russia pounded Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine with missile and drone attacks, causing a number of casualties. The bombardment is believed to have been in retaliation for Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian airbases on June 1.
Reuters news agency quoted US officials as saying that Washington believes Moscow's threatened retaliation against the drone strikes has not happened yet in earnest.
The news agency also reported one source as saying the full Russian response was "expected within days." It quoted a US official as saying the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones.
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NHK
11 hours ago
- NHK
Russia says it has launched offensive in Dnipropetrovsk, eastern Ukraine
Russia says its forces have launched an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region of eastern Ukraine. The AFP news agency says Russia is pushing into the region for the first time in its three-year invasion. The Russian defense ministry said on Sunday that forces from a tank division had reached the western border of Donetsk and are continuing to develop an offensive in Dnipropetrovsk. Elsewhere in Ukraine's east, Russian forces hit Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv with missiles, drones and guided bombs on Saturday. Local police say at least five people were killed. Kharkiv's mayor condemned the attack, describing it as the most powerful so far. On Friday, Russia pounded Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine with missile and drone attacks, causing a number of casualties. The bombardment is believed to have been in retaliation for Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian airbases on June 1. Reuters news agency quoted US officials as saying that Washington believes Moscow's threatened retaliation against the drone strikes has not happened yet in earnest. The news agency also reported one source as saying the full Russian response was "expected within days." It quoted a US official as saying the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones.
Japan Times
17 hours ago
- Japan Times
Ukraine denies postponing prisoner swaps as Russian strike on Kharkiv kills four
Ukraine denied Russian allegations on Saturday that it had indefinitely postponed prisoner swaps, accusing Moscow of "playing dirty games" after overnight Russian missile and bomb strikes on Kharkiv left three people dead and 22 injured. Later on Saturday, Russian aircraft carried out another bombing raid on Kharkiv, killing one civilian and injuring more than 40, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called "another brutal murder". Separately, Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow region wounded two people. At a second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, the two sides agreed to swap more prisoners and return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. However, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Saturday Kyiv had unexpectedly postponed the exchanges indefinitely. This was denied by Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, who said Moscow should stop "playing dirty games" and return to constructive work. "Today's statements by the Russian side do not correspond to reality or to previous agreements on either the exchange of prisoners or the repatriation of bodies," he said on the Telegram app. Overnight, Russian forces used high-precision long-range weapons and drones to attack military targets in Ukraine, hitting all of them, according to Russia's Defense Ministry. The northeastern city of Kharkiv, one of Ukraine's largest, is just a few dozen kilometers (miles) from the Russian border and has been under frequent Russian shelling during more than three years of war triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion. "Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war," Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a post on Telegram earlier on Saturday. Residential buildings, educational and infrastructure facilities were attacked, he said, and photos showed buildings burnt and reduced partially to rubble, as rescuers carried the wounded away for treatment. Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said there could still be people buried under the rubble after one civilian industrial facility was hit by 40 drones and several bombs. In the Moscow region, two people were injured after a drone attack by Ukraine overnight and on Friday, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Telegram, with nine drones shot down. Russia's aviation watchdog said operations had resumed at the Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky airports in the Moscow region after being suspended temporarily for flight safety reasons. The Defense Ministry said that since midnight, air defense units had intercepted and destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory, including the Moscow region. Ukraine's air forces also shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on Saturday morning, its military said without providing further details. Russian forces have not yet commented on the matter. Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces recently destroyed three Iskander missile systems and damaged Russian military helicopters. "There have also been new blows to Russian military logistics and airfields. This helps our defense — every complication for Russia is important for us," Zelenskyy said in his evening statement. A Ukrainian drone attack deep inside Russian territory last weekend likely damaged around 10% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet and hit some of the aircraft as they were being prepared for strikes on Ukraine, a senior German military official said in a YouTube podcast set for broadcast later on Saturday.
Japan Times
21 hours ago
- Japan Times
U.S. says Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over, expects more strikes
The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin's threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its drone attack last weekend has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, U.S. officials said. The timing of the full Russian response was unclear, with one source saying it was expected within days. A second U.S. official said the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. They did not detail Russia's expected targets nor elaborate on intelligence matters. The first official said Moscow's attack would be "asymmetrical," meaning that its approach and targeting would not mirror Ukraine's strike last weekend against Russian warplanes. Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday and Russia's Defense Ministry said the strike on military and military-related targets was in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia. But the U.S. officials believe the complete Russian response is yet to come. A Western diplomatic source said that while Russia's response may have started, it would likely intensify with strikes against symbolic Ukrainian targets like government buildings, in an effort to send a clear message to Kyiv. Another, senior, Western diplomat anticipated a further devastating assault by Moscow. "It will be huge, vicious and unrelenting," the diplomat said. "But the Ukrainians are brave people." The Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Firefighters work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. | REUTERS Michael Kofman, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said he expected Moscow might seek to punish Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, for its role in last weekend's assault. To send a message, Russia could employ intermediate-range ballistic missiles for the attack, he said. "Most likely, they will attempt to retaliate against (SBU) headquarters, or other regional intelligence administration buildings," Kofman said, adding Russia could also target Ukrainian defense manufacturing centers. Still, Kofman suggested Russia's options for retaliation may be limited as it is already throwing a lot of its military might at Ukraine. "In general, Russia's ability to substantially escalate strikes from what they are already doing — and attempting to do over the past month — is quite constrained," he said. Kyiv says Sunday's audacious attack employed 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched deep from within Russian territory in an operation code-named "Spider's Web." The United States assesses that up to 20 warplanes were hit — around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — and around 10 were destroyed. The Russian government on Thursday denied that any planes were destroyed and said the damage would be repaired, but Russian military bloggers have spoken of loss or serious damage to about a dozen planes, including those capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The strikes, prepared over 18 months and conducted by drones smuggled close to the bases in trucks, dealt a powerful symbolic blow to Russia, which throughout the Ukraine war has frequently reminded the world of its nuclear might. Putin told President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post. Trump later told reporters that "it's probably not going to be pretty." "I don't like it. I said: 'Don't do it. You shouldn't do it. You should stop it,'" Trump said of his conversation with Putin. "But, again, there's a lot of hatred."
