Russian strikes kill three across Ukraine
Two people died after a Russian missile hit Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub, which Russia's forces have recently advanced into.
According to the regional governor Sergiy Lysak, the strike destroyed "an outpatient clinic, a school and a cultural institution" in the Vasylkivska township, with some private houses and cars damaged as well.
Russia, meanwhile, had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight in the southern Rostov region when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack which injured one railway worker.
Many passengers remained stranded, and the suspension caused mass delays of trains in the region, which borders Ukraine and over which air traffic has been halted since the beginning of the war three years ago.
Separately, the Russian military said it had intercepted six aerial bombs and 349 drones on Saturday.
An earlier Russian salvo of 20 drones on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least one person overnight, its mayor said.
"Civilian infrastructure was damaged as a result of the attack. A residential high-rise building is on fire" and rescuers were pulling people out, mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov wrote on Telegram.
The Black Sea port, a UNESCO World Heritage listed city known for picturesque streets and 19th-century buildings, has been regularly targeted by Russian strikes.
The European Union on Friday agreed an 18th package of sanctions on Moscow that targets Russian banks and lowers a price cap on oil exports, in a bid to curb its ability to fund the war.
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France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Russia kills 25 in Ukraine, as Kremlin says 'committed' to peace
The strikes on several regions came hours after US President Donald Trump issued Moscow with a new deadline to end its grinding invasion of Ukraine -- now in its fourth year -- or face tough new sanctions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of purposefully targeting a prison in the Zaporizhzhia region -- that Russia claims as its own -- killing 16 people and wounding more than 40 others. "It was a deliberate strike, intentional, not accidental. The Russians could not have been unaware that they were targeting civilians in that facility," Zelensky said on social media in response. The Kremlin denied that claim. "The Russian army does not strike civilian targets," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including from AFP. Peskov added that Moscow had "taken note" of Trump's new deadline and told journalists that it remained "committed to the peace process to resolve the conflict around Ukraine and secure our interests." 'War crimes' Ukraine's justice ministry said Moscow's forces hit the prison with four glide bombs, while police said 16 inmates were killed and 43 were wounded. Bricks and debris were strewn on the ground around buildings with blown-out windows, according to images released by the ministry. The facility's perimeter was intact and there was no threat that inmates would escape, it added. Rescue workers were seen searching for survivors in pictures released by the region's emergency services. The source added there were no Russian war prisoners being held at the centre. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said the Zaporizhzhia attack was further evidence of Russian "war crimes". "People held in places of detention do not lose their right to life and protection," he wrote on social media. In addition to the glide bomb attack, the Ukrainian air force said that Russia had launched 37 drones and two missiles overnight, adding that its air defence systems had downed 32 of the drones. Zelensky said that among the separate attacks, Russian forces had targeted a hospital in the town of the Kamyanske in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Hospital targeted "Three people were killed in the attack, including a pregnant woman. Her name was Diana. She was only 23-years-old," Zelensky said. Separate strikes in the eastern Kharkiv region that borders Russia killed six people, regional authorities said. In the southern Russian region of Rostov, a Ukrainian drone attack killed one person, the region's acting governor said. Kyiv has been trying to repel Russia's summer offensive, which has made fresh advances into areas largely spared since the start of the invasion in 2022. The Russian defence ministry claimed fresh advances across the sprawling front line on Tuesday, saying its forces had taken control of two more villages -- one in the Donetsk region, and another in the Zaporizhzhia region. The prison strike on Tuesday came on the three-year anniversary of a attack on another detention facility in occupied Ukrainian territory that Kyiv blamed on Moscow and that was reported to have killed dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers. Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for the strike over the night of July 29 three years ago on the detention centre in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, which the Kremlin says is part of Russia. Ukraine says that dozens of its soldiers who laid down their arms after a long Russian siege of the port city of Mariupol were killed in that attack on the Olenivka detention facility.
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- LeMonde
Russian strikes on Ukraine kill over 20
A Russian airstrike on a prison in southeastern Ukraine overnight killed 17 inmates and wounded dozens of others, Kyiv said on Tuesday, after Washington pressured Russia to end its invasion. The strike came hours after US President Donald Trump issued Moscow with a new deadline to end its grinding invasion of Ukraine – now in its fourth year – or face tough new sanctions. And it also comes on the three-year anniversary of a strike on another detention facility in occupied Ukrainian territory that Kyiv blamed on Moscow and that was reported to have killed dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers. "It was a deliberate strike, intentional, not accidental. The Russians could not have been unaware that they were targeting civilians in that facility," Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media. Russia carried out eight strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region overnight, hitting the prison, according to Ivan Fedorov, the head of the military administration. Ukraine's justice ministry said Moscow's forces hit the prison with four glide bombs, killing 17 inmates and wounding another 42, including one of the detention center's employees. Bricks and debris were strewn on the ground around buildings with blown-out windows, according to images released by the ministry. The facility's perimeter was intact and there was no threat that inmates would escape, it added. Rescue workers were seen searching for survivors in pictures released by the region's emergency services. 'War crimes' A senior Ukrainian source said that 274 people were serving sentences in the Bilenkivska facility, where 30 people worked. The source added there were no Russian war prisoners being held at the center. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets meanwhile said the Zaporizhzhia attack was further evidence of Russian "war crimes." "People held in places of detention do not lose their right to life and protection," he wrote on social media. In addition to the glide bomb attack, the Ukrainian air force said that Russia had launched 37 drones and two missiles overnight, adding that its air defense systems had downed 32 of the drones only. In the Kharkiv region, five people were killed and three wounded, hours after US President Donald Trump set a new deadline for Moscow to end its invasion. "According to preliminary data, five civilians were killed and three more were wounded to varying degrees as a result of the shelling," the police said on Telegram, adding that Russia struck the area "presumably with a multiple launch rocket system". In the Dnipropetrovsk region, a missile strike on the town of Kamianske killed two, wounded five and damaged a hospital, Sergiy Lysak, head of the regional military administration said on Telegram. Another person was killed and several wounded in an attack in the region's Synelnykivsky district, he said. In a separate attack on Velyka Mykhailivka, Monday night, a "75-year-old woman was killed. A 68-year-old man was wounded. A private house was damaged," he posted on Telegram. In southern Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack killed one person, the region's acting governor said Tuesday. "A car was damaged on Ostrovsky Street. Unfortunately, the driver who was in it died," Yuri Slyusar, acting governor of the Rostov region, said in a post on Telegram.
Euronews
4 hours ago
- Euronews
Greece cautiously reacts to EU-US trade agreement
The Greek government appears hesitant and cautious in commenting on the EU-US trade deal on tariffs reached between Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump. Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, speaking in the Greek Parliament, outlined the government's thoughts on this burning issue. He noted that it puts an end to months of uncertainty following Trump's election and the "back and forth" with the tariffs, and that is a positive thing. He stressed, however, that the government is studying the agreement to see how it can better manage the problems that will arise in areas of Greece's commercial interest. "The agreement puts an end to months of uncertainty regarding the status of perhaps the most important bilateral trade relationship in the global economy. It secures transatlantic unity and prevents a trade war with a chain of negative effects on international trade and on international distribution and production chains. The agreement also strengthens the energy security of the European economy for the foreseeable future. From this perspective, the development is positive. "As you know, as a matter of principle, Greece supports free trade based on stable rules. The agreement provides for the application of tariffs of 15% on European exports to the US, with some asterisks," Pierrakakis continued. "Based on the principled position I have described to you, the Greek government would like a lower tariff rate, ideally zero for all transatlantic trade flows. On the other hand, the announced tariff rate is lower than what was scheduled to be applied on 1 August. "The government is closely following the relevant consultations and, to the extent that the framework of the agreement will allow, possibilities will be explored that could help to better address issues related to products of particular interest to our country." "Ending intra-European tariffs" The Greek Finance Minister also raised another issue, which concerns Europe itself. He said there are still intra-EU barriers that act as tariffs and should be eliminated. "If we really want a strong, competitive and single European economy, we have to tear down the last invisible walls that still prevent the free movement of goods and services within the Union. It is not possible that, decades after the Single Market was established, there are still regulatory or administrative barriers that in practice act as intra-European 'tariffs'. "In manufacturing there are equivalent internal tariffs of 45% and in services the equivalent is 110%. This is what the International Monetary Fund has documented, and Mario Draghi has mentioned it in his column. So, what needs to be conquered and achieved is to remove the barriers, especially between the European economies. And of course we as a country should also be able to systematically address more and more markets, such as India and the Middle Eastern markets, for our exports." Chamber of Commerce: "A defining development with conditions of predictability and great challenges" The president of the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yannis Bratakos noted that the agreement is a defining development for global trade as things are now more predictable. On the other hand, he stressed that it creates serious challenges for Greek and European production. "The recent agreement between the United States of America and the European Union, which includes a new tariff framework, is a decisive development for transatlantic cooperation and the global economy. "The new tariff framework resulting from the agreement creates conditions of greater predictability, but at the same time incorporates challenges for specific sectors of European production." Bratakos continued: "The exemption of strategic sectors, such as aeronautics, generic medicines, chemicals and certain agricultural goods, is a positive development. However, the imposition of uniform tariffs on high value-added products - including pharmaceutical, industrial and agri-food exports - may hurt the competitiveness of companies that support critical shares of the Greek economy. "Particular attention is needed to protect iconic Greek products, such as olive oil, feta and wines, which risk being burdened by the new regime. In this environment, the need for constant monitoring of developments and effective participation in the shaping of European decisions becomes crucial. "At the same time, the strengthening of energy cooperation with the US, through increased imports of LNG and investment in infrastructure, opens up new opportunities for Greece, especially in the fields of logistics, shipbuilding and regional energy interconnection. "The Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry calls on the Greek government to ensure, within the framework of the European institutions, that the final implementation of the agreement will not disrupt the competitiveness of Greek exports and will not increase the dependence of specific sectors on third markets. "It is time for our country to invest concretely and more actively in interconnection with the US and at the same time to broaden its export prospects to alternative markets. The Hellenic Business Association (EBEA) will continue to support this national effort with informed interventions, services to its members and the continuous promotion of Greek entrepreneurship abroad". Piraeus Chamber of Commerce: "We hope that the situation will be manageable" The port of Piraeus is a very large trade hub, the main seaport of Athens and plays a key role in the commercial and industrial traffic of Greece and Europe. "We want to believe that the agreement to impose tariffs at the 15% level is a manageable situation and we hope that it will not create losses in US-EU bilateral trade," President of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vassilis Korkidis said. Adding that: "The announcement that the US and the European Union have reached an agreement on tariffs, following the conclusion of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, certainly brings relief to both sides of the Atlantic. In international trade, any agreement is always better than no agreement and the unilateral imposition of measures and countermeasures. The fact that it was agreed to impose a 15% general tariff on all products including cars is an element that restores balance to US-European trade relations and seems to satisfy both parties. However, the tariffs on steel and aluminium remain at 50%, and it is not clear whether pharmaceuticals and semiconductors will eventually be subject to separate tariffs. "The agreement also provides that the EU will buy US military equipment and energy worth a total of $750 billion, while making significant investments of $600 billion. The European side calls it an "all inclusive" trade agreement between the two major trading partners that brings stability. Regardless of the details and exceptions, it is significant that after months of negotiations, the agreement was reached less than a week before the August 1 deadline and the imposition of higher tariffs that would have had serious repercussions. We want to believe that the agreement to impose tariffs at the 15% level is a manageable situation and we hope that it will not create losses in US-EU bilateral trade."
