Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv hits warplanes in Russia as missile attack kills five in Ukraine
Ukraine's military has said it struck four warplanes at an airbase in central Russia's Volgograd region as part of a drive to hit Russian war assets. It said on Telegram it had hit four Su-34 aircraft at the Marinovka base outside the city of Volgograd, about 900km (550 miles) from the Ukrainian border. The post on Friday said the operation was conducted by the military's special operations branch, together with the SBU security service and other services of the military. 'According to preliminary information, four aircraft were hit, specifically SU-34 planes, as well as technical-operational facilities where different warplanes are serviced and repaired,' the statement said. There was no immediate comment from the Russian military.
Ukraine's military said the damage to Marinovka was being assessed and described the Su-34 as Russia's main aircraft used in bombing raids on Ukrainian territory. Volgograd governor Andrei Bocharov on Friday listed the region's Kalanchyovsky district where Marinovka is located among three areas targeted by Ukrainian drones and said traffic on the bridge over the Don River in the district was temporarily restricted.
A Russian missile attack killed at least five people and wounded 25 in the industrial city of Samar in Ukraine's south-east on Friday, officials said – the second strike on the city in three days. At least four of the wounded were in severe condition and taken to hospital, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram. Officials gave no immediate details on damage in the city, where an attack on an infrastructure facility on Tuesday killed two people.
In the Kherson region to the south, authorities urged residents on Friday to prepare for extended periods without power after a Russian attack hit a key energy facility. Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said the attack caused power cuts in some settlements in the region, which is close to the front lines with Russian forces.
Russia said its troops had captured the village of Nova Kruhlyakivka in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region. The report on Friday from Russian state news agency Tass, citing the defence ministry, could not be independently verified.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said Russia and Ukraine's demands for peace were 'absolutely contradictory', after two rounds of talks have failed to bring a ceasefire. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators exchanged memorandums on how to end the war at talks in Istanbul this month and the Russian president said in Minsk on Friday: 'As for the memorandums, as expected, nothing surprising happened ... these are two absolutely contradictory memorandums.'
At the press conference in Minsk after a meeting with allies in Belarus, Putin also denounced what he called an 'aggressive' pledge by Nato members to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP. US president Donald Trump called Nato's decision a 'big win' for western civilisation. Putin also said on Friday that Russia was ready to hold a new round of peace talks with Ukraine, potentially in Istanbul, although the time and venue had yet to be agreed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Ukraine destroys Russian helicopters in latest airfield drone strikes
Ukraine destroyed three Russian attack helicopters in its latest blow to Moscow's air power, Kyiv has claimed. Saturday's pre-dawn strike on the Kirovske base, in occupied Crimea, targeted Russian aircraft, air defence systems and storage facilities for ammunition and drones, according to Ukraine's Security Service. 'Available data indicate the destruction of multi-purpose and attack helicopters Mi-8, Mi-26 and Mi-28, as well as the self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and gun complex Pantsir-S1,' an official told the Associated Press. The Kyiv Independent reported that secondary explosions were heard at the airfield during the night. Russia's defence ministry said more than 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down over western Russia and occupied Crimea overnight and into Saturday morning. Earlier this month, nearly a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet was destroyed or damaged in a covert Ukrainian operation using cheaply-made drones that had been smuggled into Russian territory. On Friday Ukrainian drones also struck four Su-34 fighter jets at the Marinovka airfield in Russia's Volgograd Oblast. Preliminary reports indicated that two of the jets were destroyed. Despite recent strikes, Ukraine continues to struggle against Russian advances on the battlefield and mounting aerial attacks, as diplomatic efforts to end the war have faltered. Overnight, Russian drones hit a residential tower in the southern port city of Odesa, killing a married couple and injuring at least 17 others, including three children, Ukrainian officials said. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Smaller, short-range drones are used by both sides on the battlefield and in areas close to the roughly 1,000km (620-mile) front line. Short-range drone attacks have killed at least 395 civilians and injured 2,635 since the war began in February 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported Thursday. It said nearly 90 percent of those strikes were carried out by Russian forces. More than 13,300 civilians have been killed and over 34,700 have been injured in the war, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report on June 11. Also on Saturday, Andrzej Duda, Poland's outgoing president, visited Ukraine and urged Kyiv to be patient during the transition to Karol Nawrocki, his nationalist successor. Mr Nawrocki won this month's presidential election after a campaign in which he criticised Ukraine and accused Volodymyr Zelensky of 'indecent' behaviour towards allies. He has pledged continued support for Ukraine's defence against Russia, but has signalled a possible shift in Warsaw's stance by opposing Kyiv's entry into Western alliances such as Nato. 'Please be patient,' Mr Duda told reporters at a press conference with Mr Zelensky. 'The world looks different from behind the presidential desk, slightly different from what it looks like to a candidate in elections.' Mr Zelensky said he would 'of course' invite Mr Nawrocki to Ukraine after he assumed office.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Astonishing moment North Korean missile launcher is destroyed by Ukraine drone - igniting projectile that flies through front of vehicle with crew still inside
This is the astonishing moment a North Korean missile launcher is completely destroyed by a Ukrainian drone while its crew was still inside. The footage released by Ukrainian military shows its projectile tearing through the 240mm calibre multiple rocket launcher (MLRS), known as the M1991, in the village of Novopavlivka. It comes just two months after North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops and artillery to fight alongside Russians in Ukraine. Posting the video to social media, the Command of the Unmanned Systems Forces, who specialise in drone warfare in the Ukrainian military, said it had decimated the 'rare' North Korean launcher. They wrote: 'In the Novopavliv direction, operators of the 413th Battalion "Raid" Forces of Unmanned Systems detected and destroyed the reactive system of salvage fire M1991 manufactured by North Korea.' The unit added that the incident occurred in April this year and that it was the first time it had seen such levels of North Korean assistance on the battlefield. In the footage, the drone can be seen approaching the MLRS, which has a range of up to 60 kilometres, before it unleashes the jaw-dropping precision strike in the village around 35 miles away from the city of Zaporizhzhia. The impact then causes the warhead to completely rip through to the crew compartment, where two soldiers appear to jump out the window after somehow escaping the blast. The Command of the Unmanned Systems Forces said it then destroyed 'the entire ammunition'. It is thought that the Russian military had sought to use the M1991 as it was an improvement on its own Uragan 220mm MLRS - as Vladimir Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine. North Korea has proven to be a staunch ally of the Russian President after it provided ballistic missiles, 120 long-range artillery systems and 120 MLRS's to the Kremlin. Those figures, which were announced by Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, represented the most significant direct military package handed to Russia by any country since the war broke out. It was also reported in May that Russia and North Korea had begun building their first road link, with the two countries hailing the construction of a bridge over a border river as a major development that will further expand their political and economic ties. The kilometre-long Tumangang Road bridge, which is expected to take 18 months to construct, aims to expand cross-border travel of people, tourism and circulation of commodities, Russian and North Korean news agencies reported. Before the announcment, both countries simultaneously held a ceremony for the bridge's construction in their respective border cities of Tumangang and Khasan on either side of the Tumen River, close to their existing rail 'Friendship Bridge'. North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song said the bridge's construction would be remembered as 'a historic monument' in bilateral ties, North Korea's KCNA reported. 'This is a big milestone for Russian-Korean relations,' Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin added, according to Russian news agency TASS. 'We are creating a reliable basis for closer cooperation between our two countries, a road for an open and fruitful dialogue.' It came days after Pyongyang confirmed it had sent combat troops to Russia to help it reclaim parts of the Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a stunning incursion last year. Putin thanked North Korea and promised not to forget the sacrifices of its soldiers for Russia. According to a South Korean government intelligence assessment previously shared with lawmakers, North Korea had sent about 15,000 troops to Russia and 4,700 of them have been killed or wounded at that time. State media in North Korea said its fighters had made an 'important contribution' to Russia's war effort by driving Ukrainians out of Russian territory.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Moment Putin's 'suicide bikers' roar into hell: Russian commanders send waves of motorbike troops into no-man's-land in desperate one-way missions
Dramatic footage shows Vladimir Putin 's 'suicide bikers' speeding into no-man's land during desperate one-way missions. The troops are sent by their commanders as part of a new tactic to try and overcome Volodymyr Zelensky 's soldiers. They're instructed to breach Ukrainian defences and cause as much chaos behind enemy lines as possible. But the method is reportedly ineffective, and the bikers are often taken out by drones or artillery fire. Some even destroy themselves by crashing into shell craters. Most of the bikers don't even make it as far as enemy lines, but the life expectancy of those who do is little improved as they are stranded and surrounded. 'Basically it's a suicide mission,' Yevhen, a lieutenant captain in Ukraine 's 28th brigade, told The Times. 'Because they never come back.' A video shows three bikers, dubbed 'iron horses' by Russian forces, roaring across fields near Toretsk before they're blown up by a drone. Motorbikes first appeared along this stretch of the front roughly three months ago, according to Yevhen. He said within a few weeks motorcycle assaults had become a daily occurrence - with between ten and 20 bikers spreading across a width of about 400m before speeding towards them. The bikes can only be intercepted by skilled drone pilots as their speed and irregular grouping makes them difficult targets to hit. However, the area of no man's land near Toretsk is so wide that usually only about a quarter will make it across. Those that do survive try to destroy as many enemy drone and mortar crews, who are less well-armed than regular infantrymen, as they can before being killed or captured themselves, Yevhen said. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes that a servicemember in a Ukrainian brigade reported on June 24 that the threat of Russian motorcycle assaults is increasing along the frontline as soldiers increasingly integrate them into assault tactics. They stated that the vehicles are 'no longer attacking along roads but mainly attacking through open fields and trying to bypass Ukrainian engineering barriers along the frontline'. Russia began using motorbikes last year, initially as a grassroots initiative among certain regiments faced with heavy losses from traditional infantry raids. The idea gained traction and their use has been formally integrated into the army's tactics, with some units now given specialised rider training. In April, Russia's ministry of defence released a video showing a paratrooper with a gun over his shoulder riding around a motocross track while explosions detonated around him. The ministry plans to equip more than half of its infantry forces with motorcycles, as well as other vehicles including quadbikes and buggies, according to leaked documents seen by Frontelligence Insight, a Ukrainian open-source intelligence agency. Russian forces are reportedly 'mainly using motorcycles as a form of transport for attacking infantry to support diversion, reconnaissance, infiltration, and flanking support missions', Frontelligence Insight reports. It also said that Russian motorcyclists operate in squads of six to eight motorcycles with one or two riders on each motorcycle, between six and 16 personnel in total.
