Dr Varsen Aghabekian: 'Israel does not want to stop the war'
Photo shows Ukraine Drone Strike: Screengrab shows a small drone hovering above a truck's trailer with a plume of smoke in the background.
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SBS Australia
5 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Reprisal for Operation Spider's Web arrives, with three killed by Russian air attack on Kyiv
The mayor of Ukraine's capital said Russia's air attack had left 20 people injured, in addition to the three deaths. Source: AP / AP Photo / Evgeniy Maloletka Russia mounted an intense missile and drone barrage of the Ukrainian capital overnight, killing three people, Ukrainian officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the city. The attack followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via United States leader Donald Trump , that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia. Kyiv's military administration said three people were killed in the missile and drone salvo against the capital. They were first responders who had rushed to the scene of one of the strikes, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said. "Overnight, Russia 'responded' to its destroyed aircraft ... by attacking civilians in Ukraine ... Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged," foreign minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out the strike on military and military-related targets in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia. "Everything that is taking place within the framework of the special military operation (in Ukraine), everything that is being done by our military on a daily basis, is a response to the actions of the Kyiv regime, which has acquired all the characteristics of a terrorist regime," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. In one of the most audacious attacks of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed a claimed US$7 billion ($10.8 billion) worth of Russian strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the mission — dubbed Operation Spider's Web — "our most long-range operation" in more than three years of war. The Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on Russian air bases, Trump said after a telephone conversation with Putin on Wednesday. "President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields," Trump said after the conversation. Russia has also accused Ukraine of being behind a deadly bomb attack on a bridge over a railway line in western Russia at the weekend that was blown up just as a train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath. Seven people were killed and 155 injured in the incident, which Kyiv has not taken responsibility for. Zelenskyy said 49 people nationwide had been injured in the attacks on Kyiv, which also struck several other towns and cities, as he called on Ukraine's Western allies to ramp up pressure on Russia. The air force said Russia had used 407 drones, one of the largest numbers recorded in a single attack. Forty-five cruise and ballistic missiles were also fired, it said. Kyiv's metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, the military administration said. The state rail company said it was also diverting some trains due to rail damage outside the city. Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites. Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks. In the capital's Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of an apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said. Falling concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone's engine. Earlier in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft batteries. The Russian military said in its statement that it had used long-range weapons to strike Ukraine. "In response to terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive strike overnight with long-range air, sea and land-based precision weapons," the ministry said. It said the strike had targeted "Ukrainian design bureaus, enterprises for the production and repair of weapons and military equipment, assembly workshops for strike drones, flight training centres, and Ukrainian armed forces weapons and military equipment depots." "The objective of the strike was achieved. All designated targets were hit." Zelenskyy called for concerted pressure on Russia. "If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives – that is complicity and accountability. We must act decisively," he wrote on X. As well as Kyiv, Russian forces also struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, Mayor Serhii Nadal said. The regional administration said the attack had injured 10 people and recommended that residents temporarily stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire. Fifteen people were injured in the northwestern city of Lutsk where an attack damaged private homes, educational institutions and a government building, prosecutors said. The Ukrainian military said it had launched a pre-emptive strike overnight on the Engels and Dyagilevo airfields in the Russian regions of Saratov and Ryazan, in addition to striking at least three fuel reservoirs.
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
Russia pummels Kyiv in deadly attack after Putin retaliation vow
Moscow launched dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones at Ukraine early Friday, killing at least three people in Kyiv, after President Vladimir Putin vowed retaliation for an audacious Ukrainian attack on Russian airbases. AFP journalists heard air raid sirens and explosions ring out in Kyiv throughout the night as Ukrainian air defence batteries intercepted waves of Russian drones and missiles. Following the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to "decisively" ramp up pressure on Russia to halt its invasion, which has left tens of thousands dead after more than three years of brutal and costly fighting. "We heard a drone -- we heard it coming very close, and then there was an explosion," Ksenia, a Kyiv resident, told AFP outside a multiple-storey housing block that was left with a charred and gaping hole after the attack. "Our windows and window panes were blown out, but we got away with a slight shock," she added, standing in a courtyard littered with broken glass and debris. One image published by the head of Zelensky's office showed a children's playground scattered with rubble and shards of glass. Zelensky said at least three people had been killed in the capital, and that Russia had targeted nine regions of Ukraine, including Lviv and Volyn in the west, which border EU and NATO member Poland. - 'Act decisively' - "If someone does not put pressure and gives the war more time to take lives, they are complicit and responsible. We need to act decisively," Zelensky wrote on social media. Deadly attacks have escalated in recent weeks even as the two sides hold talks aimed at ending the conflict triggered by Russia's February 2022 invasion. Cities and villages have been destroyed across eastern Ukraine and millions forced to flee their homes, with Russia's forces controlling around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory. The Ukrainian air force said Friday's barrage consisted of 45 missiles and 407 drones. Russian aerial assaults have become larger in recent weeks as concerns build over Ukraine's strained air defence capacity. Putin had earlier this week told US President Donald Trump he would retaliate over Sunday's Ukrainian drone attack, which damaged nuclear-capable military planes at Russian air bases, including thousands of kilometres behind the front lines in Siberia. The brazen operation, 18 months in the planning, saw Kyiv smuggle more than 100 small drones into Russia, park them near Russian air bases and unleash them in a coordinated attack. - Retaliation - The Kremlin said Thursday it would choose "how and when" to respond. Putin has repeatedly rejected a ceasefire, and Russian negotiators have issued a host of sweeping demands on Ukraine if it wants to halt the fighting. They include completely pulling troops out of four regions claimed by Russia, but which its army does not fully control, an end to Western military support, and a ban on Ukraine joining NATO as well as any Western military contingents or hardware being based in the country. The overnight attack left multiple fires burning in various districts of the capital, and also damaged train tracks in the surrounding Kyiv region, leading to lengthy delays, the national railway operator said. Three first responders from the state emergency service were killed in Kyiv, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. Kyiv's mayor said earlier that four were killed in the capital. "They worked under fire to help people. Another nine rescuers were wounded. Some of them are seriously injured, and doctors are fighting for their lives," Klymenko wrote on social media. Several strikes also hit the city of Lutsk and the Ternopil region in western Ukraine. "Today, the enemy carried out the most massive air attack on our region to date," said Ternopil's regional military administration chief, Vyacheslav Negoda. At least 49 people were wounded in total, Zelensky said. Moscow said Ukrainian strikes overnight on Russia wounded three people in the western Tula region, while Kyiv claimed to have staged successful attacks on two air fields deep inside Russian territory. Footage shared on social media showed a large fire and smoke billowing into the air at an oil facility that serves a military site in Russia's Saratov region, which has been frequently targeted. The Russian defence ministry said it downed 174 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ten downed drones were headed for the Russian capital, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. bur-jc-jbr/jc/jhb
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
Four killed as Russian drones and missiles inflict heavy barrage on Ukraine's capital
Russia has mounted an intense and sustained overnight barrage on the Ukrainian capital, with missiles and drones causing powerful explosions to reverberate across the city. The attack followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via US leader Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bombers inside Russia on Sunday. The overnight Russian response killed four people, injured 20, and triggered fires in residential buildings in different parts of the city, authorities in Kyiv said. A strike also damaged a train between stations, causing operational disruption to the metro transport system, the city's military administration said. Earlier in the attack, Reuters reporters said they could hear the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft guns. Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact site, and at least one large fire at the site of a drone hit. Ukraine's air force said the city had been targeted with drones and Kalibr cruise missiles. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said drones had struck the upper floors of a high-rise apartment building and started a fire in the Darnytskyi district on the east side of the city, where he said emergency power cuts were possible. One unofficial Telegram channel said a shopping centre in the area was ablaze. Mr Tkachenko said a fire had also broken out in an apartment building in a western district. He said drone fragments had been spotted in three districts. Mr Trump said after a phone conversation with Mr Putin on Wednesday, that the Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on Russian air bases. During a meeting with Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz this week, Mr Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. The president likened the war in the Russia-Ukraine war to a fight between two children who hate each other. Mr Trump said that with children, "sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart. "I said, 'President, maybe you're going to have to keep fighting and suffering a lot,' because both sides are suffering before you pull them apart, before they're able to be pulled apart," he said. "You see, 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." ABC/wires
