Ukraine war: Buildings burn after renewed Russian air attacks
One of the strikes hit a residential block in the southern city of Odesa, causing a fire on its upper floors. Rescuers said five people were rescued from burning apartments - including the woman who later died. At least another six people were wounded. The eastern city of Pavlohrad was subjected to what Serhiy Lysak called a "hellish night and morning". He said there had been "explosion after explosion" caused by drone and missile strikes, adding it had been the biggest-scale attack on the city to date. Targets reportedly included industrial sites, a fire department, a clinic, a school, and a cultural institution.Zelensky wrote of "important infrastructure" being damaged there. A missile plant is based in Pavlohrad, and the city has been struck in the past by Russia.Russia's defence ministry said it struck military-industrial enterprises that produce components for missiles and drones overnight, but did not specify where.
Is Ukraine's new drone scheme gamifying war?Ukrainians unimpressed by Trump's 50-day ultimatum to Putin
The north-eastern city of Sumy was also attacked. Zelensky said critical infrastructure had been damaged, cutting power to several thousand families. There have also been strikes - including with guided bombs - on another town in the region, Shostka, which lies less than 50km (30 miles) from the Russian border. Officials said a "targeted hit" there had caused a fire. They did not say what had been struck. Unverified video footage posted online purportedly of the incident shows a fierce fire and billowing clouds of grey smoke.Zelensky once again stressed the importance of bolstering air defences, both in terms of supplies from allies, but also producing them in Ukraine, including more interceptor drones. The Trump administration recently moved to free up weapons supplies, even if some of these - including much-needed Patriot air defences - will be paid for by other Nato allies.
Russia said it shot down more than 70 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday, most of them over the regions of Rostov, Moscow and Bryansk. The acting governor of Rostov, Yuri Slyusar, said the attack had been massive, affecting areas close to the border with occupied parts of Ukraine. Houses, he said, were damaged by what he said had been falling debris, and several settlements suffered temporary power cuts. Slyusar said one railway worker had been injured, and rail traffic disrupted. Several supply routes into Ukraine run through the area.Meanwhile, on the front lines, Russian forces continue to attack one of their key objectives - the town of Pokrovsk in the eastern region of Donetsk. Late on Friday, Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, acknowledged it faced increasing pressure, but insisted its defence was "steadfast". He said Russia had been trying to get to the city with small groups of soldiers attacking for sabotage and reconnaissance purposes, claiming one such group had been destroyed. Russia has been trying to encircle the Pokrovsk for months.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
39 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Muscovites' travel plans disrupted as Ukraine targets airspace with drones
Early in the morning on Monday last week, Vladimir Shevchuk, 38, his wife, and their two children arrived at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, suitcases full of beachwear and ready to fly to the Turkish beach destination Antalya for a long-planned summer break. Like tens of thousands of Muscovites, the Shevchuks were hoping to escape the city's heat for their summer holidays, until an announcement rang out across the terminal: all flights suspended. They spent the day – and night – sleeping on the airport's concrete floor, waiting for updates. It wasn't until the next morning that they were told their flight had been rescheduled for later in the week. 'We saved up for this trip for a year,' Shevchuk said. 'Our hotel and car rental can't be reimbursed, and we simply can't reschedule.' Tens of thousands of passengers like Shevchuk have seen their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt airspace over Russia's capital. What began as isolated interruptions have evolved into a systematic Ukrainian campaign, aimed at bringing the war home to ordinary Russians – many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens. Their inconvenience is trivial compared with the daily reality faced by Ukrainian civilians, who live under the constant threat of deadly missile and drone attacks. But for many Russians – who have largely remained insulated from the direct impacts of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – this may be the most tangible sign yet that the conflict has begun to intrude on their everyday lives. While few Ukrainian drones make it through the heavily fortified air defences around Moscow, their relative cheapness compared with the chaos they cause makes them an efficient means of targeting Russia's sense of stability. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has long abandoned efforts to persuade ordinary Russians to oppose the war. Instead, Kyiv's strategy seems focused on making the cost of continued aggression impossible to ignore – not just because of the coffins returning from the frontline, but through growing disruptions to daily life. Ukrainian officials have not yet formally commented on the tactic, but they have emphasised repeatedly that life in Russia should not remain comfortable for a population that, by and large, continues to support the war. And the tactic seems to be bearing fruit: regular airport shutdowns and missed holidays have become a major talking point among the Russian public – and a growing source of frustration. Beyond the anecdotal stories of missed holidays and ruined business trips, there is a very real and mounting economic cost for Russia's aviation industry, already strained by western sanctions. During the most severe wave of travel disruption to date, from 6-7 July, airlines across the country cancelled 485 flights and delayed about 1,900 more, according to Russia's federal air transport agency. More than 43,000 forced ticket refunds were issued, 94,000 passengers were placed in hotels, and more than 350,000 food and drink vouchers were handed out. 'It's not just a headache. The drones completely disrupt our operations,' said a senior manager at one of Moscow's main airports, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'We can't go on like this forever,' the manager added. The plane chaos appears to have caught the attention of Russia's leadership. Earlier this month, Putin dismissed the country's transport minister without offering any official explanation. But the risks for Russia in keeping its skies open are stark. In December last year, 38 people were killed when Russian air defences mistakenly shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet that crashed in Kazakhstan, during an attempt to intercept a Ukrainian drone targeting Grozny airport. The incident has triggered an unprecedented diplomatic rift with Azerbaijan. Russian airports are preparing for the chaos to become a permanent feature. At Sheremetyevo, the country's busiest airport, staff were filmed last Tuesday handing out mattresses to stranded passengers. Several major international carriers that continue to operate flights to Russia – including Turkish Airlines and Emirates – have reportedly begun adjusting their schedules to account for the increasingly frequent airspace shutdowns. For Shevchuk, the upheaval did little to shake his support for Russia's war in Ukraine. 'The sooner we put an end to Ukraine, the better,' he said. When asked whether the experience had made him reflect on the daily suffering and bombardment faced by Ukrainian civilians, he shrugged. 'That's not my problem. Why should our lives be affected by this?'
The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin cancels navy celebration parades as Kyiv strikes near St Petersburg
Russia was forced to downsize its celebration parades honouring the navy on Sunday amid security threats from continuing Ukrainian drone attacks, Kremlin officials said. Annual parades of Russian warships to mark the Navy Day were cancelled in St Petersburg, in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic and in the far-eastern port of Vladivostok. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the cancellation of the parades and said it was 'linked to the overall situation, security reasons, which are above all else'. Russian forces downed nearly 100 Ukrainian drones over several regions from Saturday night into Sunday. The drone threat also forced the shutdown of St Petersburg Pulkovo airport, leading to the suspension of dozens of flights in the early hours of Sunday. Meanwhile, Poland scrambled its warplanes in the early hours of Monday to protect its airspace after Russia launched missiles at western Ukraine, near the border with the Nato country. As of 1.30am local time, most of Ukraine remained under air raid alerts.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv attack injures five, Trump and Starmer to discuss ‘applying pressure' on Putin
A Russian air attack on Kyiv has injured at least five people and damaged a residential building, the head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on Monday via Telegram. British prime minister Keir Starmer and US president Donald Trump are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine when they meet in Scotland on Monday. Downing Street said the talks would include 'applying pressure' on Russian president Vladimir Putin to end the invasion. The two leaders have built a rapport on the world stage despite their differing political backgrounds, with Trump praising Starmer for doing a 'very good job' in office ahead of their talks on Monday, which will focus on the Middle East and trade. It comes after Trump announced a tariffs deal between the US and the European Union after meeting European commission president Ursula von der Leyen for high-stakes talks at Turnberry on Sunday. Von der Leyen called on Sunday for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to uphold independent anti-corruption bodies, with the Ukrainian president signalling legislation to that effect could be adopted within days. 'Ukraine has already achieved a lot on its European path,' von der Leyen said on X after a call with Zelenskyy. 'It must build on these solid foundations and preserve independent anti-corruption bodies, which are cornerstones of Ukraine's rule of law.' After a rare outburst of public criticism, Zelenskyy on Thursday submitted draft legislation to restore the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies – reversing course on an earlier bill aimed at stripping their autonomy. 'I thanked the European commission for the provided expertise,' Zelenskyy said on X after his Sunday call with von der Leyen. 'We share the same vision: it is important that the bill is adopted without delay, as early as next week.' Von der Leyen also promised continued support for Ukraine on its path to EU membership. Russia scaled down the festivities on Sunday honouring its navy, citing security concerns amid continuing Ukrainian drone attacks. Russian authorities cancelled the parades of warships in St Petersburg, in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic and in the far-eastern port of Vladivostok that are usually held to mark the annual Navy Day celebrations. Asked about the reason for the cancellation in St Petersburg even as Putin arrived in his home city to visit the navy headquarters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that 'it's linked to the overall situation, security reasons, which are above all else'. The Russian defence ministry said air defences downed 99 Ukrainian drones in several regions overnight. Later in the day, it said another 51 drones were shot down near St Petersburg. A man was killed and three other people injured by drone fragments in the region around St Petersburg, according to local authorities. On the trip to St Petersburg, Putin vowed to build more warships and intensify the navy's training, adding: 'The navy's strike power and combat capability will rise to a qualitatively new level.' French president Emmanuel Macron had a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday and said later on X that he reaffirmed France's support for Kyiv and vowed to raise pressure on Moscow to force it to 'agree to a ceasefire that paves the way for talks leading to a solid and lasting peace, with full European involvement'.
