Russia launches major overnight attack in Ukraine's second-largest city, killing one
Russia pummelled Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv before dawn on Saturday, launching its "most powerful attack" there since the start of the war, the mayor said, announcing one person killed.
In recent weeks, Russian troops have accelerated their advance while the latest negotiations in Istanbul failed to broker an end to the three-year war.
"Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the beginning of the full-scale war," Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov posted on Telegram, describing a barrage of missiles, drones and guided bombs striking simultaneously.
"As of now, at least 40 explosions have been heard in the city over the past hour and a half," he wrote at 4:40am (0140 GMT), adding that drones were still buzzing overhead. "The threat remains."
A strike on a residential building in Kyivsky district killed one person, the mayor said. Kharkiv regional Governor Oleg Synegubov posted that seven people were wounded in the aerial assault. "Medical personnel are providing the necessary assistance," he wrote.
On Thursday, at least 18 people, including four children, were wounded in strikes on the northeastern city that set an apartment bloc on fire.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed that Moscow would respond to an audacious Ukrainian drone attack that destroyed several nuclear-capable military jets.
Ukraine has been pushing for an unconditional and immediate 30-day truce, issuing its latest proposal to Moscow at peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. But Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for such a ceasefire.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed, swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed, and millions forced to flee their homes since Russia invaded in February 2022.
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Khaleej Times
12 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Russia launches major overnight attack in Ukraine's second-largest city, killing one
Russia pummelled Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv before dawn on Saturday, launching its "most powerful attack" there since the start of the war, the mayor said, announcing one person killed. In recent weeks, Russian troops have accelerated their advance while the latest negotiations in Istanbul failed to broker an end to the three-year war. "Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the beginning of the full-scale war," Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov posted on Telegram, describing a barrage of missiles, drones and guided bombs striking simultaneously. "As of now, at least 40 explosions have been heard in the city over the past hour and a half," he wrote at 4:40am (0140 GMT), adding that drones were still buzzing overhead. "The threat remains." A strike on a residential building in Kyivsky district killed one person, the mayor said. Kharkiv regional Governor Oleg Synegubov posted that seven people were wounded in the aerial assault. "Medical personnel are providing the necessary assistance," he wrote. On Thursday, at least 18 people, including four children, were wounded in strikes on the northeastern city that set an apartment bloc on fire. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed that Moscow would respond to an audacious Ukrainian drone attack that destroyed several nuclear-capable military jets. Ukraine has been pushing for an unconditional and immediate 30-day truce, issuing its latest proposal to Moscow at peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. But Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for such a ceasefire. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed, and millions forced to flee their homes since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
British Palestinians demand UK action as Gaza relatives face starvation
Basem Farajallah speaks with his sister in Gaza every day. She is diabetic and surviving on scraps of bread. He has 80 family members still alive in Gaza - but 40 others have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023, including 25 who were wiped out in a single strike. Farajallah emphasised that he is not alone. He is the co-founder of the UK Gaza Community, a group of some 350 British Palestinians with relatives in Gaza. For the last 18 months, they have been forced to watch them disappear under the rubble of their homes under relentless Israeli bombardment. Now, they are watching them starve amid Israel's ongoing blockade on the territory. Since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023, the group has been fruitlessly pushing to bring their families to the UK, launching a petition that garnered over 100,000 signatures demanding the government create a Ukraine-style visa scheme to reunite them. While UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pronounced Israel's blockade on Gaza 'intolerable', Farajallah said they have been 'neglected' by the government, which has rejected their calls for the creation of the scheme. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'For us, its like torture,' Farajallah told Middle East Eye. 'We are not talking about huge numbers, when we created our list of the family members we wanted to bring to the UK, it was less than 2000 people'. Farajallah spoke alongside a panel of British Palestinians and their families, patched in from Gaza via Zoom calls, at a conference on Thursday calling on the UK government to impose sanctions and a total arms embargo on Israel. 'Nearly every member of the community here in the UK has close family members in Gaza, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters' Farajallah said. 'For the last 600 days, we have lived in constant fear, checking with our families every day, not a single day passed without fear.' 'Today, after 600 days of uncertainty, we know one thing for sure, if this starvation continues, our families will not survive, not for weeks, but days'. 'I'm losing myself' Ali Mousa, a 30-year-old British Palestinian who lives in Manchester, struggles to stay in contact with his sister Hend, a teacher at an Unrwa school in Gaza. Internet and power outages mean calls are sporadic. In the periods of silence, he fears she could have been killed in a strike or have collapsed from hunger. Hend, a 29-year-old mother of three who addressed the conference via a patchy Zoom call, said she was at her home near Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, expecting imminent forced expulsion orders. 'If this happens, where will my family and I go?' she said. She described how her three-year-old asks her every morning if they will have breakfast. 'Unfortunately, my answer is always no,' Hend said. Gaza: US-backed aid group suspends food distribution for a second day Read More » As a school teacher, Hend said she is also confronted with her students' suffering on a daily basis. She conducts her classes with students sat on the floor, which she also uses as a blackboard. In one of her classes, a student lost consciousness because he hadn't eaten for two days. When another student didn't complete an online test, Hend contacted the boy's mother to ask what had happened. The mother replied that he had been killed. 'I feel like I'm losing myself,' she said. Wafaa Shamallakh, 38, an Arabic interpreter who works for Kingston Council and whose siblings are in southern Gaza, described how her husband-in-law and her 15-year-old nephew were forced to walk over an hour just to reach an aid distribution point. 'Hundreds of thousands of people had come there from the north and south of Gaza, desperate to find a bag of flour, a little sugar, maybe some pasta,' Shamallakh said. Drones flew overhead, firing at them. 'They came back empty handed; no food, no flour, nothing. They had to run for their lives'. 'This is what it means to survive in Gaza,' Shamallakh said. 'Beyond anything I've seen' Dr Rossel Mohrij, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who volunteered at Gaza's Nasser Hospital in December 2024, described amputating limbs with blunt instruments and without sterile dressing. 'We used cling film to dress wounds, vinegar for infection,' she told the conference. The doctor recalled being inundated with casualties following an air strike targeting a nearby school where displaced families were sheltering. 'It was beyond anything I've seen, I will carry it with me forever,' Mohrij told the conference. 'A flood of the dead, dying, the dismembered. Children too stunned to cry, staring at their missing body parts'. She described standing at the bed of a child, who had been stuck under the rubble and presented late with severe burns to his legs. 'They were so severe, the blood supply to his legs was restricted'. 'Me, some other visiting surgeons, some local surgeons, stood at his feet, debating how to make his death less excruciating,' she said. "A flood of the dead, dying, the dismembered. Children too stunned to cry, staring at their missing body parts," - Dr Rossel Mohrij, plastic and reconstructive surgeon 'He did not understand our words but I guess he felt our despair. He quietly covered his face with a white cloth to block the world out. He died the next morning'. For Farajallah, and many other British Palestinians, Starmer's pledges to ensure the flow of aid to Gaza and to secure a ceasefire are no more than a 'political show'. Despite Starmer's condemnation of Israel's attacks on Palestinian aid seekers over the past week, the government is so far resisting calls for a total arms embargo and recognition of Palestine. At the conference, the voices from Gaza were shaking with grief, but were also defiant. They were not asking for pity, but for action. 'Let this be not another press conference where we beg for basic humanity. Let this be a turning point where Britain stops whispering about international law and starts upholding it. Because the people of Gaza are not waiting for your sympathy,' Shamallakh said. Mousa turned to his sister, Hend, saying, 'I want to speak directly to you. We are here for you, and we will never leave you, even if your whole world does'.
Dubai Eye
a day ago
- Dubai Eye
Intense Russian air attack on Ukraine's capital kills four
Russia mounted an intense missile and drone barrage of the Ukrainian capital overnight, killing four people, Ukrainian officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated 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 bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said 20 people were injured, 16 of them in hospital, in addition to the four deaths. The city's metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, Kyiv's military administration said. Ukraine's state rail company Ukrzaliznytsia said it was also detouring some trains due to railway damage in the region. In the Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of 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 fire. 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. Ukraine's air force said the country had been targeted with drones and missiles overnight. Russian forces 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 injured five people and recommended residents stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire. Five people were injured in the northwestern city of Lutsk where the attack also damaged private homes, educational institutions and government buildings, according to mayor Ihor Polishchuk. In one of the most audacious attacks of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia's strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds. 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.
