Russian attacks kill two in east Ukraine, 33 hurt in Kharkiv
The Donetsk regional prosecutor's office in eastern Ukraine said the two deaths were in the city of Kostiantynivka, where 12 people were also wounded.
In Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said a 10-year-old child and a month-old infant were among those hurt when Ukraine's second-largest city was hit by two glide bombs - air-launched munitions fitted with wings and satellite-aided navigation to extend their range and precision.
"These are utterly senseless strikes with no military purpose whatsoever," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X.
Thick black smoke billowed above the northern district of Kharkiv where a local business and an apartment bloc were damaged. Stunned residents fled, with some clutching children and flames engulfing parked cars.
"I looked around and everything was smashed," said Yevhen Hanushchak, holding a crate with his cat outside a damaged apartment building. "Tons of smoke, people running and screaming, grabbing their things."
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has stepped up airstrikes on Ukrainian towns and cities since talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in its nearly 3-1/2 year-old-war in Ukraine stalled this year.
Glide bombs have been particularly devastating in areas closer to the battlefield. The regional prosecutors said Thursday's attack was launched nearly 100 km (62 miles) away.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
Russian missiles hit a Ukrainian army training ground, killing at least 3 soldiers
A Russian missile hit a Ukrainian army training ground, killing three soldiers and wounding 18 others, authorities said, in the latest attack to embarrass military officials as they struggle to make up a severe manpower shortage in the nearly 3½-year war. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the strike killed or wounded about 200 Ukrainian troops. The ministry said that Ukraine's 169th training center near Honcharivske in the Chernihiv region was hit with two Iskander missiles, one armed with multiple submunitions and another with high explosives. Meanwhile, Russia continued its stepped-up aerial campaign against Ukrainian civilian targets, launching 78 attack drones overnight, including up to eight newly developed jet-powered drones, Ukraine's air force said Wednesday. At least five people were wounded. Civilian casualties The U.N. mission in Ukraine says there has been a worsening trend in civilian casualties from Russian attacks this year, with 6,754 civilians killed or injured in the first half of 2025 — representing a 54% increase from the same period in 2024. Since Russia launched an all-out invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, at least 13,580 Ukrainian civilians, including 716 children, have been killed, according to the U.N. In an effort to stop that, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he's giving Russian President Vladimir Putin until Aug. 8 for peace efforts to make progress or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs. Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in U.S.-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land. Recent attacks under investigation Ukrainian forces are mostly hanging on against a grinding summer push by Russia's bigger army, though the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed some recent small advances at places along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. Ukrainian ground forces acknowledged that a Russian strike hit a military training ground in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine, but its casualty report differed widely from one issued by Moscow. A Russian Defense Ministry video showed multiple small explosions apparently caused by a missile with a shrapnel warhead followed by one big blast, apparently from the other one armed with a high-explosive warhead. A similar Russian strike occurred last September, when two ballistic missiles blasted a Ukrainian military academy and nearby hospital, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 200 others. Ukrainian authorities said that a commission led by the head of the Military Law Enforcement Service has been formed to determine whether negligence or misconduct by officials contributed to the casualties in Chernihiv. The attack was the fourth deadly strike in as five months on Ukrainian military facilities. The three previous strikes killed at least 46 soldiers and wounded more than 160, according to official reports. Ukraine badly needs more troops Ukraine can ill afford to lose more troops. Though it has more than 1 million Ukrainians in uniform, including the National Guard and other units, it badly needs more. Deeply rooted problems have bedeviled Ukraine and brought questions about how Kyiv is managing the war, from a flawed mobilization drive to the overstretching and hollowing out of front-line units through soldiers going AWOL. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill Tuesday that allows Ukrainian men over the age of 60 to voluntarily sign contracts with the armed forces. The new law allows those who want to contribute their experience and skills, particularly in noncombat or specialized roles. In February, Ukraine's Defense Ministry began offering new financial and other benefits that it hopes will attract men between the ages of 18 and 24 to military service. Men in that age group are exempt from the country's draft, which covers men between 25 and 60 years old. Ukraine lowered its conscription age from 27 to 25, but that has failed to replenish ranks or replace battlefield losses. ___
Reuters
8 minutes ago
- Reuters
Ukraine's PrivatBank wins UK lawsuit against former owners over alleged fraud
LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine's PrivatBank on Wednesday won its London lawsuit against its former owners for allegedly siphoning off nearly $2 billion from the country's largest lender. PrivatBank accused Ihor Kolomoisky – a once-powerful businessman and supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's 2019 election run – and Gennadiy Bogolyubov of orchestrating sham loans and supply agreements between 2013 and 2014. The lender has pursued Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov in the English courts since 2017, the year after it was nationalised as part of a clean-up of Ukraine's finance system. Kolomoisky, who has been detained since September 2023 on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, and Bogolyubov – whom Ukrainian investigators this month said illegally left the country – both denied any wrongdoing. Their lawyers said at a trial starting in June 2023 that there was no misappropriation from PrivatBank, which they argue had no evidence they had any knowledge of, or involvement in, the alleged fraud. The case was closely watched by politicians and investors as a test of Zelenskiy's willingness to pursue reforms and tackle the corruption which has blighted Ukraine for years, amid its ongoing war with Russia. Judge William Trowler ruled in favour of PrivatBank, saying Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov were "jointly and severally liable" for around $1.9 billion, less any sums which may have previously been received by the bank.
Telegraph
8 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump admits Russian sanctions may not work
Donald Trump has admitted that imposing heavy sanctions against Russia and its trading partners may not force Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Just 24 hours after he cut his 50-day ceasefire deadline down to '10 or 12 days', Mr Trump accepted that Putin wants to keep fighting and that financial penalties 'may or may not affect them'. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, the president reiterated that the US could impose 'tariffs and stuff' against Russia in 10 days. However, admitting that the plan may not work, he said: 'I don't know if it's going to affect Russia, because he wants to, obviously, probably keep the war going,' referring to Putin. 'But we're going to put tariffs and the various things you put on. It may or may not affect them. But it could.' Mr Trump said on Monday that he would give Russia about '10 or 12 days' to end the war before imposing heavy sanctions on Russia's trading partners. That was down from the 50 days he had given Russia to end the war, which would have given Putin until Sept 5. Mr Trump's rhetoric against Putin has been shifting in recent months as peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bring about any meaningful progress. The two sides met for a third round of negotiations in Istanbul last week, but like the two previous rounds, they only agreed to exchange prisoners of war and repatriate the dead. 'Bodies lying all over the street' The president has also grown increasingly frustrated at the level of intensifying attacks against major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Just hours after Mr Trump threatened to impose sanctions against Russia, Putin's forces launched a wave of strikes across Ukraine, killing 27 people and injuring dozens more. 'We thought we had that [ceasefire] settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,' he said at Trump Turnberry in Scotland on Monday. 'You have bodies lying all over the street, and I say that's not the way to do it. So we'll see what happens with that.' An initial plan for imposing sanctions on Russia came from Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, who threatened to put 500 per cent tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners. But Mr Trump appears to have watered down those threats, suggesting last month the tariff level would sit at around 100 per cent. The hope is that Russia's key economic partners, including China and India, will force Putin into ending the war due to the cost of the tariffs. But a recent report found that China and India have already found ways to disregard or even evade Western sanctions, including by using front companies. Both nations have been found to be directly contributing to Russia's war effort, which includes a $1.4 million explosive compound sales agreement between a private Indian company and two Russian companies.
