Russian missile and drone attacks kill eight and injure 82 in Kyiv
Ten children, the youngest being a five-month-old girl, were among the injured, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said.
Advertisement
A large part of a nine-storey residential building collapsed after it was struck, he added.
Residents at the scene of one Russian strike (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
Rescue teams are at the scene searching for people trapped under the rubble.
Yana Zhabborova, 35, a resident of the damaged building, woke up to the sound of thundering explosions, which blew off the doors and windows of her home.
'It is just stress and shock that there is nothing left,' said Ms Zhabborova, a mother of a five-month-old baby and a five-year-old child.
Advertisement
Russia fired 309 Shahed and decoy drones and eight Iskander-K cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Air defences intercepted and jammed 288 strike drones and three missiles, and five missiles and 21 drones struck targets.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said it had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Rescuers work in the rubble of a destroyed apartment building (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
A drone attack sparked a blaze at an industrial site in Russia's Penza region, local governor Oleg Melnichenko said, adding that there were no casualties.
In the Volgograd region, some trains were halted after drone wreckage fell on railway infrastructure, state operator Russian Railways said.
Advertisement
Russia's Defence Ministry also said that its forces had taken full control of the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
Russian and Ukrainian troops have battled for control of Chasiv Yar for nearly 18 months. It includes a hilltop from which troops can attack other key points in the region that form the backbone of Ukraine's eastern defences.
Victor Trehubov, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, told The Associated Press that Russia's claim was untrue.
'Just a fabrication, there wasn't even a change in the situation,' he said.
Advertisement
A report on Thursday from Ukraine's Army General Staff said there had been seven clashes in Chasiv Yar in the past 24 hours. An attached map showed most of the town under Russian control.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in Kyiv (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
DeepState, an open-source Ukrainian map widely used by the military and analysts, showed early on Thursday that neighbourhoods to the south and west of Chasiv Yar remained uncontrolled by either side.
The overnight drone attacks targeted the Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions, with Ukraine's capital being the primary target, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit, Mr Tkachenko said, with the heaviest damage in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts. More than 100 buildings were damaged in the capital, including homes, schools, nurseries, medical facilities and universities, he added.
Advertisement
'Today, the world once again saw Russia's answer to our desire for peace with America and Europe,' Mr Zelensky said. 'New demonstrative killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible.'
He called on Ukraine's allies to follow through on defence commitments and pressure Moscow towards real negotiations.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — August 8 — for peace efforts to make progress, or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs.
Western leaders have accused Mr Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
Global News Podcast Trump-Putin meeting over Ukraine likely ‘in coming days'
The Kremlin has said planning is underway for a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump next week, but denied the Russian leader has agreed to a subsequent meeting with the US president and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. The Trump administration's long-threatened tariffs on around ninety countries have taken effect on imports from dozens of countries, raising the effective US rate to its highest level in nearly a century. Relatives of hostages held in Gaza have set sail towards the territory in a flotilla of eleven boats adorned with flags and protest posters, calling on the Israeli government to stop the war, amid discussion of plans to escalate the military conflict in Gaza. German police have arrested three men suspected of being members of the outlawed Reichsbeurger group and of planning high treason. The families of those killed in the Air India crash in Ahmedabad two months ago, say it's like 'losing him twice' after receiving parts of a stranger's body, instead of their relative. The dangers of unregulated cosmetic procedures like botox and what the UK government is doing about it. Why a new investigation into Pompeii has shed new light on what happened after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and why one 90's superhero has joined in with the Trump recruitment drive for ICE agents to ramp up immigration raids and detentions across the United States. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
A Trump-Putin summit will be as useful to Ukraine and democracy as Agent Orange is for gardening
A long overdue summit between the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation to discuss peace in Ukraine, where nuclear war has been threatened, must be seen as an historic moment for optimism. Except that from London to Langley, Berlin, Canberra and Tokyo, intelligence chiefs will be on tenterhooks wondering if this is another occasion that looks like the meeting between an agent and his handler. There's no evidence that Donald Trump works for Vladimir Putin. But there is ample evidence that the US president favours Putin's agenda. And that he has done all he can to hobble Ukraine while it defends itself against a Russian invasion of Europe's eastern flank. The summit was announced, significantly, by the Kremlin first. It may be held in the United Arab Emirates, which has been pursuing a 'friends with all, enemies of none' foreign policy. That would be apt; a summit held in a mostly benign authoritarian state between a malevolent leader of a brutal authoritarian state and his greatest admirer, who happens to lead the world's most powerful democracy. Trump has done some performative pouting and sounded peevish about Putin recently. He has been humiliated by the Russian president's indifference to his pleas to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine. This has provoked the leader of the free world to accuse its most dangerous challenger of 'bulls***' and to threaten largely toothless sanctions against the Kremlin. Earlier this year Trump. took a very different tone with Ukraine – a pro-western democracy on track to joining the European Union and hoping to become part of Nato. Trump cut weapons supplies to Kyiv. He blinded the US intelligence feed to Ukraine during the Russian counter-offensive to retake territory in Kursk. He publicly insulted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accusing him of risking World War III. He held Zelensky's feet to the fire to get a colonial-style mineral deal to pay for weapons that had been free. Trump also took Russia's side in every aspect of how he thought Ukraine should capitulate to Moscow in future peace talks. Putin is obsessed with returning Ukraine to the former Russian (or Soviet) empire. He has never hidden his ambition to do so and consistently denies that Ukraine is really an independent entity at all. He is also a former KBG agent, an expert at manipulation, who genuinely believes that 'the west' is plotting against Moscow, whatever ideology dominates the Kremlin. He ordered Russian intelligence services to interfere in the 2016 US elections, to undermine the very notion of truth in the western media, and has been delighted by Brexit as it weakens the perceived threat of the EU. In the US, Trump has further empowered Russia by his assault on the independence of the judiciary, his flouting of democratic conventions, the enrichment of his family through his presidency and the widespread spectacle of ICE arrests by masked police. A weakened American democracy in crisis is a victory for Putin – and it's been delivered by Trump. As The Independent has reported before, the Five Eyes intelligence network that links the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is under strain because the agencies using the network do not trust Trump with their secrets – he has a record of blurting them out and of storing confidential material in his toilet. When he met Putin for his first summit in Helsinki in July 2018 he did so for more than two hours with only a US translator in the room with him and the Russian delegation. He snatched away the translator's notes after the meeting. Then, when asked if he agreed with US intelligence assessments that Russia has interfered with the US elections he said 'no'. 'President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be," he insisted. The remark was condemned by Republican grandees from then US House speaker Paul Ryan and senator John McCain, among many others. 'No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant,' McCain said after the Helsinki summit. Most of Trump's face-to-face meetings with Putin have not been properly recorded and have often been held without the usual presence of White House aids and officials. And every time they meet, Trump has emerged apparently dazzled and fulsome in his praise for the leader of a regime that kills its political opponents in jail, tosses critics off balconies and uses nerve gas and radioactive poisons to bump off defectors to Britain. There is every chance that Trump will continue to take Russia's side against Ukraine in a summit with Putin. The bilateral sanctions he's threatened will make no difference to Russia, which now has negligible trade with the US. His 'tertiary' sanctions against India, which has been hit with a 25 per cent surge in tariffs because it imports Russian oil, are unlikely to be imposed or if they are they will be short lived. Trump needs India inside his tent. Trump has not threatened to renew arms shipments to Ukraine. He has not said he might reconsider the Nato/Ukraine request for American troops to help guarantee a future peace deal. He's granted tiny exports of enough Patriot air defence missile for Kyiv for about one night's Russian bombardment. Trump has caused turmoil in Nato more widely. The leaders of the alliance no longer see the US as a reliable ally – let alone the cornerstone of a military construct that has protected western democracy for six decades. Trump's relationship with Putin has been toxic for the West, for Europe and is stripping the branches of democracy like Agent Orange.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Kremlin says Putin and Trump will meet soon, Zelenskiy confers with Europeans
MOSCOW/KYIV, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet in the coming days, the Kremlin said on Thursday, as the U.S. president seeks a breakthrough to end the Ukraine war after voicing mounting frustration with his Russian counterpart and threatening him with new sanctions. The announcement came a day after Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, held three hours of talks with Putin in Moscow. Trump has threatened new sanctions against Russia and countries that buy its exports from Friday unless Putin agrees to end the 3-1/2 year conflict, the deadliest in Europe since World War Two. On Wednesday he imposed higher tariffs against India for buying Russian oil and said similar additional duties may follow on China, the other top buyer of Russian crude oil. It was not clear if he would announce further steps once his Friday deadline expires. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia and the U.S. had agreed to hold a Putin-Trump summit "in the coming days". ZELENSKIY: EUROPE MUST HAVE A ROLE Putin, at a meeting with the president of the United Arab Emirates, said the UAE would be an "entirely suitable" venue for the meeting but stopped short of confirming that the Gulf country would be the host. There has been no summit of U.S. and Russian leaders since Putin and Joe Biden met in Geneva in June 2021. Russia went to war in Ukraine in February 2022, citing threats to its own security and plunging relations into deep crisis. Kyiv and its Western allies cast the invasion as an imperial-style land grab. Trump has moved to mend relations with Russia and try to end the war, although in his public comments he has veered between admiration and sharp criticism of Putin. Russia's main stock market index MOEX gained as much as 5% on the news, its highest level in two months. The rouble hit a two-week high against the U.S. dollar and China's yuan. "Russian stocks are soaring. Investors hope that the (Trump-Putin) meeting will be a step towards normalizing the geopolitical situation," Alfa Bank analysts said in a note. A White House official also said on Wednesday that Trump could meet Putin as soon as next week. The New York Times reported that Trump told European leaders during a call on Wednesday that he intended to meet with Putin and then follow up with a trilateral involving the Russian leader and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Ukraine and European leaders have long held concerns that Trump, who has voiced sympathy with some of Russia's demands, could align with Putin to force a deal on Zelenskiy that would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. Zelenskiy spoke on Thursday with the leaders of France and Germany and with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and said that Europe must be involved in the peace process. "The war is happening in Europe, and Ukraine is an integral part of Europe – we are already in negotiations on EU accession. Therefore, Europe must be a participant in the relevant processes," he said on X. He said the war must end with a "dignified peace", and whatever settlement was reached would shape the security landscape of Europe for decades to come. Russia had still not said it was ready for a ceasefire, he added. "The near future must show what the consequences will be if Russia continues to drag out the war and disrupt constructive efforts," Zelenskiy said. Mykola Bielieskov of the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv said offering Putin a summit with Trump amounted to giving him a reward without getting anything in return. This, he said, gave Russia "the impression of getting out of isolation and talking on an equal footing". He said the Kremlin "will continue to drag out time, using the very fact of the meetings as proof of openness to negotiations without any concessions". Zelenskiy said various possible bilateral and trilateral meeting formats had been discussed with Trump and Ukraine's European allies. "Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side," he added. Ushakov said Trump's envoy, Witkoff, had raised on Wednesday the possibility of a Trump-Putin-Zelenskiy meeting but the Russian side had left this proposal "completely without comment". Asked about the possibility of meeting Zelenskiy, Putin said he was willing in principle but the conditions for a face-to-face with the Ukrainian leader were far from being met. Under the Biden administration, which imposed heavy sanctions on Russia over the war, Russia had described relations with Washington as "below zero". Under Trump, both sides have spoken of the possible re-establishing of lucrative commercial ties. Ushakov said it was noted at the Trump-Witkoff meeting that "Russian-American relations can be built according to a completely different, mutually beneficial scenario, significantly different from how they have developed in recent years". Pro-Kremlin war blogger Yuri Podolyaka, posting after the Putin-Witkoff talks, said the Russian leader had played a "masterful diplomatic game". "It seems that Vladimir Putin has managed to spin Trump in a 'carousel of negotiations'," he posted on his blog, which has more than three million subscribers. On the streets of Kyiv, Ukrainians interviewed by Reuters were wary of what might come out of a Putin-Trump meeting. "I don't expect any positives," Mykhailo Kryshtal, a 55-year-old actor, said. "Why should he (Putin) end this war? He has at his fingertips a lot of people willing to die for him, or for some ephemeral ideas produced in Russia. These are all some kind of games."
