Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv under Russian drone attacks for second night running
A day earlier, Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 attack drones on Kyiv, injuring 15 people in one of the biggest assaults on the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of the war more than three years ago. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the attacks indicated Moscow was 'prolonging the war … Only additional sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.' Patrick Wintour reports Trump's refusal to impose the promised 'bone-crushing sanctions' over Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire has left European leaders frustrated and despondent.
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, spoke of 'another night of terror for Ukrainian civilians', posting on X. 'These are not the actions of a country seeking peace,' Lammy said of the Russian strike. Katarina Mathernová, the European Union's ambassador to Kyiv, described the attack as 'horrific'. 'If anyone still doubts Russia wants war to continue – read the news.'
In addition, 13 civilians were killed on Friday and overnight into Saturday in Russian attacks in Ukraine's south, east and north, regional authorities said. Three people died after a Russian ballistic missile targeted port infrastructure in Odesa on the Black Sea, local governor Oleh Kiper reported. Russia later said the strike targeted a cargo ship carrying military equipment.
On Saturday 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers on the second day of an extended prisoner swap set to be the largest in the three-year war, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow. 'Tomorrow we expect more,' Zelenskyy posted. The first part of the large-scale swap involved 270 soldiers and civilians from each side on Friday. More swaps are expected on Sunday to bring the total to 1,000 as agreed in talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul last week.
In north-eastern Ukraine, mayor Ihor Terekhov of Kharkiv, the second-biggest city, said drones hit three city districts and damaged a business. Terekhov said many drones remained in the air over the city.
Russian troops advancing slowly on the eastern front captured two settlements in Donetsk region as well as one in Ukraine's northern region of Sumy, the Russian defence ministry said on Saturday. The claims could not be confirmed. A Russian defence statement said its forces had captured the village of Stupochky in Donetsk region, east of Kostiantynivka, a town under recent Russian pressure. It also said it had taken control of Otradne, a village farther west along the 1,000-km front and announced the capture of Loknya, a village inside the Russian border in Sumy region. Ukraine acknowledged no such losses.
Russia's defence ministry said that early on Saturday its forces shot down more than 100 Ukrainian drones over six provinces in western and southern Russia. The drone strikes injured three people in the Tula region south of Moscow, local governor Dmitriy Milyaev said, and sparked a fire at an industrial site there. Andriy Kovalenko, of Ukraine's national security council, said on Saturday the drones hit a plant in Tula that makes chemicals used in explosives and rocket fuel.
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