Ukraine war live: At least 12 killed in Russia's largest air attack to date
Update:
Date: 2025-05-25T07:53:36.000Z
Title: At least 12 people killed in one the heaviest Russian air attacks on Ukraine since war started
Content: At least 12 people have been killed after Russian forces launched a huge overnight drone attack across Ukraine, officials said.
Three children – aged 8, 12 and 17 years old – were killed in Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, four people in the Kyiv region were killed, one in Mykolaiv in the south, and four in the Khmelnytskyi region, according to officials and reports.
The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was a particular focus of the drone strikes. The city's mayor Vitali Klitschko said it was 'under attack' but reassured people that the 'air defences are operating' as they should.
Ukraine's air force said on Sunday that Russia attacked the country with 298 drones and 69 missiles overnight, one of the largest aerial attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. It said it downed 45 missiles and 266 drones.
It was 'the most massive strike in terms of the number of air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022,' Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's air force, told the Associated Press.
Russian air defences, meanwhile, intercepted 110 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 13 over the Moscow and Tver regions, the country's defence ministry said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
In Moscow, restrictions were imposed on at least four airports, including the main hub Sheremetyevo, the Russian civilian aviation authority said.
As my colleague Peter Beaumont notes in this story, the air raids came as Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners Saturday in a continuing major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation amid otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire.
The previous night, Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile attack against Kyiv, injuring at least 15 people, according to officials, in what was one of the heaviest assaults since the start of the Russian invasion.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Canadian PM vows to boost defence spending and reduce dependency on US
Mark Carney has promised to boost defence spending to its highest level in decades warning that in a 'dangerous and divided world', Canada must reduce its dependence on the US for defence. Speaking at the University of Toronto on Monday, Carney said Canada would reach Nato's 2% military expenditure target this fiscal year – five years ahead of his previously announced schedule. For years, Canada has been viewed as a defence loafer and successive prime ministers have failed to bring the country's commitments in line with allies. A recent Nato report found that Canada spent an estimated 1.45% of its GDP on defence last year. The prime minister pledged to divert billions in spending to domestic manufacturers, warning his country had become 'too reliant on the United States' for its defence capabilities. 'The long-held view that Canada's geographic location will protect us is becoming increasingly archaic. Threats which felt far away and remote are now immediate and acute,' said Carney, pointing to 'Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine' and threats to Canada's sovereignty not only from Moscow but also from 'an increasingly assertive China'. The announcements, staggered throughout Monday, come as Canada prepares to host the G7 summit next week in Kananaskis, Alberta. Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, defence spending will be a focus at the Nato summit in The Hague at the end of June. The secretary general, Mark Rutte, has already indicated he wants an increase to 3.5% for core defence spending and 1.5% in defence-related investments such as infrastructure. In recent months, Canadian military officials and politicians have shifted focus to the Arctic, warning of Canada's deep vulnerabilities in a rapidly changing – and highly coveted – region of the planet. But the renewed focus has also revealed the limits of Canada's ageing fleets. 'Only one of our four submarines is seaworthy,' said Carney 'Less than half of our maritime fleet and land vehicles are operational.' In the past, Canada turned to the United States to source its military hardware. But in his speech the prime minister acknowledged that while the US had become Canada's closest ally and dominant trading partner, Donald Trump's protectionist tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty had cast a shadow over the future of that relationship. 'Now the United States is beginning to monetize its hegemony: charging for access to its markets and reducing its relative contributions to our collective security,' he said. Ahead of Canada's spring federal election, there was spirited debate in the country over whether to cancel a multibillion-dollar order for the US-built F-35 stealth fighter. Canada has committed to buy 16 of the jets from Lockheed Martin at a cost of nearly US$85m each. But revelations that the US would control all F-35 software updates and own all of the spare parts has once again revived arguments for diversifying procurement to more reliable allies. 'We will ensure every dollar is invested wisely, including by prioritizing made-in-Canada manufacturing and supply chains,' said Carney. 'We should no longer send three-quarters of our defence capital spending to America.' In recent weeks, Carney and Trump have held private, high-level talks as Canada looks to end a trade war instigated by the US. Timothy Sayle, a professor of history at the University of Toronto, says Carney will have a 'very difficult needle to thread' in balancing the rhetoric of Canada being able to act independently and the realities of its longstanding defence partnerships with the United States. 'The world is an increasingly dangerous place. And Canada's been under pressure from Nato and the European allies to do more. But how much of this announcement is a result of pressure coming from the United States?' said Sayle. 'I suspect that the importance of the relationship with the president played a role in this being a larger and quicker announcement than we might have thought.' Carney's announcement, which requires billions in new spending, shows 'political will matters', said Sayle – although he warned that previous governments have made similar announcements. 'We know that Canada has struggled with defence procurement in the past. Where is the money [for the investment[ going to come from? What does this mean for taxes? But there's also been broader feeling in Canada that it was necessary to do something – and to do something quickly.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Russian threat will not disappear when the war in Ukraine ends, Rutte says
Russia will remain an imminent threat to Nato even if there is eventual peace in Ukraine, and the western alliance has to increase its air and missiles defences, its secretary general, Mark Rutte, warned in a speech at the Chatham House thinktank in London. 'Let's not kid ourselves, we are all on the eastern flank. There is no east or west, there is just Nato,' he said, adding that for Russian missiles 'the distance between European capitals is only a few minutes'.
.jpeg%3Ftrim%3D198%2C0%2C199%2C0%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Russia and Ukraine swap prisoners of war as fighting continues
Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner of war exchange involving people under 25, a result of direct talks in Istanbul on June 2, with plans for larger swaps to follow. The exchange aims to repatriate at least 1,200 POWs on each side and return the bodies of those killed, a rare point of agreement amid ongoing conflict. Despite the prisoner exchange, fighting continues, with Russia claiming territorial gains in Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv reporting a major drone attack by Moscow. Freed Ukrainian prisoners, some held since the war's start, made emotional calls home, offering updates to relatives of those still captive. Both sides stated the intention to exchange severely ill or injured prisoners in the coming days, with Russia providing psychological and medical assistance to its returned servicemen in Belarus.
