Probe Points to Russian Air Defenses Causing Azerbaijan Airlines Crash
The preliminary results of Azerbaijan's investigation into the deadly crash of a civilian airliner point to the plane being hit by a Russian antiaircraft missile, or shrapnel from it, said people briefed on the probe.
Azerbaijan's initial findings came quickly after aviation experts said visible damage to the Azerbaijan Airlines flight—carrying 62 passengers and five crew members—was evidence that it was hit by a munition. The crash killed 38 people, and left 29 survivors, some of whom said they heard a loud explosion that preceded the flight's problems.
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Russia hits ‘shipbuilding sites' in Kyiv
Russia hit military sites in Kyiv overnight including 'aviation, missile, armoured vehicle and ship-building facilities', its defence ministry claimed. Kremlin officials said attacks on the Ukrainian capital struck command centres, troop deployment sites, weapon and equipment storage hubs, military airfield infrastructure, ammunition warehouses and fuel depots. 'All designated targets have been hit,' the defence ministry added. Kremlin-affiliated state media reported that attacks had also struck the Artem plant in Kyiv, a missile production facility. Challenging Russia's claim, Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, wrote on Telegram: 'Once again, Russian strikes are not hitting military targets, but the lives of ordinary people.' Kyiv is home to only one major shipyard, the Kuznia na Rybalskomu facility, which produces vessels for the Ukrainian navy. Ukraine has not yet confirmed if it was hit during the Russian attacks. An air alert for civilians remained active in the capital for five hours overnight as seven of the city's 10 districts fielded aggressive attacks which left residential buildings and a business centre smouldering. Ukrainian officials said that one person was killed and four more injured in Kyiv, as Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that 'concrete action' was needed to prevent future attacks. In the southern port city of Odesa, attacks on residential buildings and a maternity hospital left two people dead and nine wounded, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the regional military administration. Thanks for following our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. It has now ended for the day. Here's a reminder of what happened today: Volodymyr Zelensky called on the United States and Europe to respond to a fresh bout of Russian attacks The Telegraph's Senior Foreign Correspondent Memphis Barker described the intense sounds and smells of Russia's overnight bombardment on Kyiv Ukraine's military intelligence chief claimed that Russia has agreed to help North Korea begin production of Shahed-style 'kamikaze' drones Ukraine said it had exchanged captured soldiers with Russia, the second stage of an agreement struck at peace talks last week We will be back with more updates and analysis soon. The European Commission has proposed an 18th package of sanctions against Russia targeting its energy exports, financial institutions and military industry, with the aim of forcing Moscow to stop dragging its feet in negotiations. The measures include proposals to lower the G7 price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $45 per barrel and tighten measures against the country's 'shadow fleet.' Speaking at a joint press conference with Kaja Kallas on Tuesday, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, called the sanctions 'robust' and 'hard-biting', adding 'our message is clear: This war must end.' In May, European leaders threatened Moscow with 'massive' sanctions if it refused to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. The US plans to cut funding for a programme building new weapons for Ukraine, Pete Hegseth has said. Mr Hegseth, the US defence secretary, suggested the move was an attempt to achieve a 'negotiated peaceful settlement' in the war, but did not specify how far the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (Usai) would be cut. Under the programme, the Pentagon issues contracts to US defence firms to build equipment for Kyiv. 'We believe a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interests of both parties and our nation's interest, especially with all the competing interests around the globe,' Mr Hegseth told a congressional committee on Tuesday. 'I don't think the word victory has been well defined or the path to it. And as a result the path to peace that stops the killing and the carnage is something that president Trump is very invested in.' Ukraine said it had exchanged captured soldiers with Russia, the second stage of an agreement struck at peace talks last week for each side to free more than 1,000 prisoners. 'We continue the return of our people, as agreed in Istanbul,' Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X, confirming the exchange without immediately disclosing the exact number of returnees. 'Today marks the first stage of the return of our injured and severely wounded warriors from Russian captivity. All of them require immediate medical attention. This is an important humanitarian act,' the Ukrainian president added. Lev Shlosberg, a senior member of the Russian opposition party Yabloko, was arrested and charged with allegedly 'discrediting' Russia's armed forces on Tuesday after he made several remarks condemning the war in Ukraine, Reuters reports. In January, Mr Shlosberg described the war as a game of 'bloody chess' and said 'we must first stop killing people.' Members of the Yabloko party said that Mr Shlosberg's arrest was linked to these remarks, and that he faces up to five years in prison if convicted. Mr Shlosberg was labelled a 'foreign agent' by Russia's Justice Ministry in 2023 and faces separate criminal charges for refusing to comply with this label. Kyiv's St. Sophia Cathedral was damaged overnight in one of the largest Russian air attacks on the capital since the full-scale war began. Officials said that a blast wave destroyed a cornice on the main apse of the cathedral, one of Kyiv's most iconic buildings which dates back to the early 11th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Mykola Tochytskyi, Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, wrote on Facebook: 'Last night, the enemy struck at the very heart of our identity again.' 'St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a shrine that has survived centuries and symbolises the birth of our statehood, has been damaged,' Mr Tochytskyi continued. Russia launched one of its biggest air attacks on Kyiv overnight, officials said, using more than 300 drones and seven missiles in strikes that also hit other parts of the country. One person was killed and several more injured in the five hour-long attack on the capital that hit seven of the city's 10 districts, according to Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv's mayor. A Telegraph journalist was holed up in an air raid shelter and heard the buzzing of drones, followed by gunfire and loud explosions throughout the night. In the southern port city of Odesa, a maternity hospital and residential buildings were also hit, killing two people and injuring nine, local authorities said. Condemning the attacks, Andriy Yermak, Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, said: 'You can't break Ukrainians with terror.' It came a day after Moscow launched its biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, considered part of a retaliatory response to Ukraine's extraordinary June 1 drone attack on Russia's remote bomber bases. 'It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action,' Mr Zelensky said this morning, adding that two of the missiles were North Korean-made. In the aftermath of Ukraine's audacious 'Operation Spider's Web', which claimed as many as 41 of Russia's military jets in drone attacks on four airbases across the country last Sunday, Vladimir Putin vowed revenge, writes Lisa Haseldine. Relaying his conversation with the Russian president in the attack's aftermath, Donald Trump said – without the slightest hint of alarm or condemnation – 'president Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields'. Now, it appears that response has arrived. Overnight, Moscow launched its 'biggest overnight bombardment' of the war so far, according to Ukraine's air force, directing 479 drones and 20 missiles predominantly at the western and central parts of the country. The attack reached as far west as Rivne, unnerving Poland – Ukraine's neighbour – to such a degree that it felt compelled to scramble its air force to patrol for stray missiles. One woman was killed in Russia's huge combined overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital, announced Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration.'Once again, Russian strikes are not hitting military targets, but the lives of ordinary people. This once more shows the true essence of what we are dealing with,' Mr Tkachenko wrote on contradicts Russia's account of the attacks, which its defence ministry had claimed targeted military facilities. The Kremlin has said that it is still in talks with Kyiv over an exchange of soldiers killed in the war. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that refrigerated trailers containing the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers had been waiting at the border for 'several days', in a statement to Russian media on Tuesday. Mr Peskov claimed that Ukraine has not yet provided bodies for the exchange. Moscow previously said that 1,000 bodies were to be handed over from its side. The exchange was agreed in Istanbul on June 2. It comes after both sides exchanged seriously wounded soldiers and those under the age of 25 on Monday. Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, said that Russia is 'too weak' to attack Nato countries, adding 'they're not even capable of defeating Ukraine.' Mr Orban, who is regarded as Vladimir Putin's closest EU ally, also told French TV channel LCI, that the leaders of the Russian Federation 'only understand the language of force, so Europe must also take steps to make itself strong.' Earlier this month, Mr Orban said he would do everything possible to prevent Ukraine from joining the European Union, claiming that Ukraine will 'drain every euro, forint, and zloty that we have invested in supporting European families, farmers, and industry.' Russian forces carried out strikes on military targets in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with high-precision weapons and drones overnight, its defence ministry said. The air strikes on Kyiv, among the largest in over three years of war, were part of intensified bombardments that Moscow says are retaliation for attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russia. Ukraine says the hours-long strikes hit civilian targets across the capital and at least four people were treated in hospital. Russia has agreed to help North Korea begin production of Shahed-style 'kamikaze' drones, according to Ukraine's military intelligence chief. Long-range kamikaze drones manufactured in North Korea could be used to help Russia strike Ukraine and potentially be used to strike South Korean targets, said Kyrylo Budanov in an interview with The War Korea has supplied soldiers, artillery, drones and ballistic missiles to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. I could smell burning from my room and social media footage taken from rooftops showed clouds of smoke across the city. By 4.15am local time the attacks appeared to die down, after more than two hours of fairly constant assault. Whether there was further damage will become clearer in the coming hours. But already, by 9am, the city was back into its stride: the roads busy with people heading to work. Ukrainian overnight drone strikes forced a temporary suspension of flights in all airports serving Moscow and the country's second-largest city St Petersburg. Russia destroyed a total of 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, its defence ministry - which reports only how many were downed, not the number Ukraine launched - said, reporting no damage. Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia temporarily halted flights at all four major airports serving Moscow and St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport, as well as at airports in nine other cities to ensure safety. Flights in Moscow and some other cities were restored by Tuesday morning, but restrictions were still in place in St. Petersburg at 5.30am BST. From my hotel room in Kyiv, you could hear the sounds of a massive drone strike for much of the night. First, the sour whine of a Shahed. Then the rattle of gunfire by Ukrainian air defences. Finally, all too often, a pounding explosion. For days the capital had braced for Putin's threatened 'revenge' for Operation Spider's Web. It appeared to arrive at around 2am, as the first of a steady flow of missiles swarmed over the city. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, had warned residents to take air raid warnings more seriously. There was little need to repeat the message, amid the staccato bursts of gunfire and percussive detonations. The hotel's air raid shelter filled up: those who had taken their chances the night before, when almost 500 drones were fired at Ukraine, lay on bean-bags or brought down pillows from their rooms. Even for Kyiv residents accustomed to Putin's nightly deliveries, it was a loud, sleepless night. Volodymyr Zelensky today called on the United States and Europe to respond to a fresh bout of Russian attacks of more than 300 drones and seven missiles. 'It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action. Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace. Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong,' the Ukrainian leader wrote in a post on social media, adding that two of the missiles were North Korean-made. We're bringing you all the latest from the war in Ukraine. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
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Texas Lottery Commission Told To Hold $83.5M Jackpot Won By Woman In February
(Texas Scorecard) – A state judge in Travis County has ordered that Texas Lottery commissioners must hold on to an $83.5 million jackpot won by a woman in February that has not yet been paid out. Earlier this week, District Judge Aurora Martinez Jones ruled that the jackpot could not be 'diminished, wasted, or paid to another' by Sergio Rey, in his official capacity as acting executive director for the TLC. Jones' temporary restraining order only lasted for three days, but a June 5 hearing resulted in Judge Jan Soifer ordering an extension of the enjoinments until June 10. On June 10, the court will reconvene to discuss a longer temporary injunction to protect the jackpot throughout the litigation period. The jackpot, won by a woman who purchased a $20 ticket through the ticket reseller service Jackpocket, has not been dispersed due to an investigation into the controversial win ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott. Jones found that the jackpot could be at risk of being lost when Senate Bill 3070 becomes law, posing 'irreparable' and 'imminent' harm to the winner. The measure, expected to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, would abolish the TLC and transfer oversight of the Texas Lottery to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. It would also ban ticket resellers like Jackpocket. Resellers, also known as couriers, allow customers to play the lottery online through an intermediary who buys the ticket at a brick-and-mortar store on their behalf. The practice has been at the center of the controversy surrounding the $83.5 million winning ticket in February, which was purchased at a retailer owned by Jackpocket. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick published a video at the retailer following news of the win, noting that it could be an example of 'bulk purchasing'—or buying up a significant portion of combinations to have a higher chance of winning the lottery. Shortly after Patrick's exposé and the federal indictment of a Russian businessman with ties to the lottery, Abbott called for a limited investigation by the Texas Rangers. That investigation, later expanded to include all lottery operations, halted the winnings from being dispersed. In late May, an anonymous woman claiming to be the rightful winner of the February jackpot filed a petition seeking to retrieve the money. She claimed that even with concerns over how the ticket was procured, commissioners had 'determined that Plaintiff was the lawful bearer of the winning ticket.' Her attorney, Randy Howry, told KXAN-TV he believes the TRO protecting the winnings until June 10 would also apply to the new agency overseeing the lottery if Abbott signs SB 3070 into law. Notably, according to KXAN-TV, the Texas Rangers have not contacted either the anonymous winner of the $83.5 million jackpot or her attorney. On June 17 at 9:00 a.m., the court will meet at the request of Rey's legal team to discuss whether the court has the authority to hear the case in the first place. The February jackpot is just one of two controversial, high-profile wins connected to ticket resellers that have spawned statewide investigations and legal battles. Plaintiffs in another lawsuit allege that four lottery retailers, including a ticket reseller, conspired to work with a sports gambling company to bulk purchase a $95 million jackpot in April 2023. Abbott's investigation also covers that win.
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Ukraine orders mandatory evacuation in 7 settlements of Kharkiv Oblast amid intensified Russian attacks
Local authorities have ordered a mandatory evacuation from seven settlements in the Kupiansk district, Kharkiv Oblast, due to intensified Russian attacks. Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote: "In connection with the intensified enemy attacks on the Kupiansk district, we have decided to evacuate the population from seven settlements of the Shevchenkove hromada. These are the villages of Baranivka, Berezivka, Novomykolaivka, Spodobivka, Starovirivka, Duvanka and Fedorivka." [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town along with their adjacent territories – ed.] Details: Syniehubov added that over the past two months, two people had been killed and five injured, including a 16-year-old boy, as a result of Russian attacks on the hromada with guided aerial bombs, multiple-launch rocket systems and drones. A total of 87 houses and 27 apartment blocks were damaged. Overall, 181 children are to be evacuated to safe places. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
