Pope Leo to meet Ukraine's Zelenskiyy on Sunday, Vatican says
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo will have a private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy later on Sunday following the pope's inaugural Mass, the Vatican said.
Leo spoke with Zelenskiyy on Monday in the first known conversation between the newly-elected pontiff and a foreign leader, underscoring his concern for the war in Ukraine.
Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskiy in Turkey
Speaking moments after Sunday's Mass, Leo mentioned the 'martyred' Ukraine and called for a 'just and lasting peace'.
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Business Recorder
11 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Ukraine says Russian strikes hit Kyiv, Odesa, killing three
KYIV: Russia launched fresh drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and port city of Odesa early on Tuesday, killing three people and hitting a maternity hospital, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow has escalated its bombardments of Ukraine and Kyiv has retaliated with strikes deep inside Russian territory. Talks in Turkey last week failed to yield a breakthrough towards ending the three-year war. Aside from an agreement to exchange prisoners, progress has stalled and Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire. After the overnight barrage of more than 300 drones and seven missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Kyiv's Western allies to respond with 'concrete action'. 'Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace. Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong,' Zelensky wrote in a post on social media. He added that two of the missiles fired in the latest wave attacks were made in North Korea. Russia fired record 479 drones at Ukraine overnight Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted 'Ukrainian aviation, missile, armoured vehicle and ship-building facilities in Kyiv' with a 'group strike'. 'The goal of the strikes was achieved. All designated objects were hit,' the ministry said. But residential and hospital buildings were struck in Odesa, where two people were killed and at least nine others were wounded, Governor Oleg Kiper said. 'The enemy massively attacked Odesa with strike drones,' Kiper wrote on Telegram. 'The Russians hit a maternity hospital, an emergency medical ward and residential buildings,' he said, adding that the maternity hospital had been evacuated in time. Prisoner swap In central Kyiv, an AFP journalist heard at least a dozen explosions, anti-aircraft fire and the buzzing of drones. City officials said one woman was killed and four people were wounded. The mayor said strikes hit at least seven districts, setting buildings and cars on fire. Russia's 2022 invasion of its neighbour triggered the biggest European conflict since World War II, forcing millions to flee their homes and decimating much of eastern and southern Ukraine. Ukrainian cities are targeted by Russian air strikes almost daily. Russia launched a record 479 explosive drones at Ukraine overnight into Monday morning, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Kyiv has responded with attacks on Russian territory, targeting transport and weapons production infrastructure. Russia's transport agency Rosaviatsia said on Tuesday that flight operations had been temporarily restricted at more than a dozen Russian airports – standard procedure during Ukrainian drone attacks. In the city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, Russian emergency services said one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a petrol station. Russia's defence ministry said it had intercepted 102 Ukrainian drones overnight. Despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to reach a ceasefire agreement, peace talks are at a standstill. The only concrete agreement reached at talks in Istanbul last week was a large-scale prisoner exchange and the repatriation of dead soldiers' bodies. Demands Russia and Ukraine swapped a first group of captured soldiers on Monday and Zelensky announced the exchange would 'continue in several stages over the coming days'. The deal should see the freeing of all captured soldiers under the age of 25, as well as those who are sick or severely wounded. But Zelensky said last week it was 'pointless' to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation – who he previously dismissed as 'empty heads' – since they could not agree to a ceasefire. Russian forces meanwhile are making steady advances across the front line. Over the weekend Moscow said it had pushed its offensive into the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time, marking a significant territorial escalation. 'Time for everyone to finally accept the fact that Russia understands only strikes, not rational words,' Zelensky's top aide, Andriy Yermak, said on Tuesday, in a thinly veiled criticism of the Trump administration. As a condition for halting its invasion, Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the territories Moscow says it has annexed and forswear joining NATO. It has also rejected a proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire sought by Kyiv and the European Union, arguing that this would allow Ukrainian forces to rearm with Western deliveries. Ukraine is demanding a complete Russian withdrawal of from its territory and security guarantees from the West.
Express Tribune
15 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Russia launches massive drone attack on Ukraine, hits Kyiv and Odesa maternity ward
Listen to article Russia launched another prolonged drone attack on Ukraine, killing two people and damaging swathes of Kyiv as well as striking a maternity ward in the southern port of Odesa, officials said early on Tuesday. The overnight strikes followed Russia's biggest drone assault on Ukraine on Monday - part of stepped-up operations that Moscow said were retaliatory measures for Kyiv's recent brazen attacks in Russia. At least four people were hospitalised in the capital as a result of the hours-long attacks that hit seven of the city's 10 districts, city officials said. "You can't break Ukrainians with terror," Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said in a Telegram post after the attacks. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for tougher sanctions on Russia and air defence to strengthen Ukraine following the attack. "Russia rejects any meaningful peace efforts and must face new, devastating sanctions. Already now. There is no more time to wait," he said. Air raid alerts in Kyiv and most Ukrainian regions lasted five hours until around 5 a.m. (0200 GMT), according to military data. "A difficult night for all of us," Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military district, said on Telegram. "Throughout the night, the enemy relentlessly terrorized Kyiv with attack drones. They targeted civilian infrastructure and peaceful residents of the city." The Kyiv attack sparked fires in residential and non-residential neighbourhoods and open space areas, city officials said. Reuters' witnesses heard and saw countless loud explosions shaking the city and lighting the night sky. Photos and videos posted on Telegram channels showed heavy smoke rising in the early hours of the morning in different parts of Kyiv. The scale of the attack was not immediately known. Moscow has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine following Kyiv's strikes on strategic bombers at air bases inside Russia on June 1. Moscow also blamed Kyiv for bridge explosions on the same day that killed seven and injured scores. The attacks come despite pressure from US President Donald Trump on both sides to move towards a resolution on the war. Moscow and Kyiv returned to negotiations for the first time in more than three years, but outside of an agreement on the exchange of war prisoners, there has been no tangible progress. In addition to swarms of drones and missiles launched in recent days, Russia has also been advancing further on the ground along the frontline in eastern Ukraine, claiming on Tuesday to take more territory there. In the southern port of Odesa, a "massive" overnight drone attack targeted an emergency medical building and a maternity ward, as well as residential buildings, Oleh Kiper, governor of the broader Odesa region, said on Telegram. Two men were killed in the attack, and nine people were injured, according to the Ukrainian prosecutors. Patients and staff were safely evacuated from the maternity hospital, Kiper added. He posted photos of broken windows in what looked like a medical facility and of damage to the facade of several buildings. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war. But thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Business Recorder
16 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Russia's latest drone strikes hit Kyiv, maternity ward in Odesa, Ukraine says
KYIV: Russia launched another prolonged drone attack on Ukraine, killing two people and damaging swathes of Kyiv as well as striking a maternity ward in the southern port of Odesa, officials said early on Tuesday. The overnight strikes followed Russia's biggest drone assault on Ukraine on Monday - part of stepped-up operations that Moscow said were retaliatory measures for Kyiv's recent brazen attacks in Russia. At least four people were hospitalised in the capital as a result of the hours-long attacks that hit seven of the city's 10 districts, city officials said. 'You can't break Ukrainians with terror,' Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said in a Telegram post after the attacks. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for tougher sanctions on Russia and air defence to strengthen Ukraine following the attack. 'Russia rejects any meaningful peace efforts and must face new, devastating sanctions. Already now. There is no more time to wait,' he said. Air raid alerts in Kyiv and most Ukrainian regions lasted five hours until around 5 a.m. (0200 GMT), according to military data. 'A difficult night for all of us,' Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military district, said on Telegram. 'Throughout the night, the enemy relentlessly terrorized Kyiv with attack drones. They targeted civilian infrastructure and peaceful residents of the city.' The Kyiv attack sparked fires in residential and non-residential neighbourhoods and open space areas, city officials said. Reuters' witnesses heard and saw countless loud explosions shaking the city and lighting the night sky. Photos and videos posted on Telegram channels showed heavy smoke rising in the early hours of the morning in different parts of Kyiv. The scale of the attack was not immediately known. Moscow has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine following Kyiv's strikes on strategic bombers at air bases inside Russia on June 1. Russia fired record 479 drones at Ukraine overnight Moscow also blamed Kyiv for bridge explosions on the same day that killed seven and injured scores. The attacks come despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump on both sides to move towards a resolution on the war. Moscow and Kyiv returned to negotiations for the first time in more than three years, but outside an agreement on the exchange of war prisoners, there has been no tangible progress. In addition to swarms of drones and missiles launched in recent days, Russia has also been advancing further on the ground along the frontline in eastern Ukraine, claiming on Tuesday to take more territory there. In the southern port of Odesa, a 'massive' overnight drone attack targeted an emergency medical building and a maternity ward, as well as residential buildings, Oleh Kiper, governor of the broader Odesa region, said on Telegram. Two men were killed in the attack, and nine people were injured, according to the Ukrainian prosecutors. Patients and staff were safely evacuated from the maternity hospital, Kiper added. He posted photos of broken windows in what looked like a medical facility and of damage to the facade of several buildings. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war. But thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
