
Russia pounds Ukraine with hundreds of drones, killing at least one person
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia fired more than 300 drones overnight into Saturday, along with more than 30 cruise missiles.
One person died when Russian forces attacked the Black Sea port city of Odesa with more than 20 drones and a missile, the city's mayor, Hennadii Trukhanov, said, while five people were rescued when a fire broke out in a residential high-rise building.
According to Mr Zelensky, six other people were wounded in the attack on Odesa, including a child, and critical infrastructure was damaged in Ukraine's north-eastern Sumy region.
The Ukrainian president also thanked international leaders 'who understand how important it is to promptly implement our agreements' aimed at boosting Ukraine's defence capabilities, including joint weapons production, drone manufacturing, and the supply of air defence systems.
Moscow has been intensifying its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. It often batters Ukraine with more drones in a single night than it did during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate.
On July 8, Russia unleashed more than 700 drones — a record.

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Similarly, alienating India at a time when Washington needs Delhi's support against Beijing seems strategically myopic. The issue of Turkey would also present an absurd scenario: sanctioning a Nato ally whose cooperation is essential for American interests in Syria and the Caucasus. Perhaps most tellingly, removing five million barrels of Russian oil from global markets would trigger precisely the kind of price surge that Trump has spent years promising to avoid. With no spare production capacity to replace Russian crude in the short to medium term, American motorists would face soaring fuel costs just as inflation begins to bite harder. For a president who campaigned on economic competence, this would look like a self-damaging strategy. Ironically, Trump's threat has already delivered Putin an unexpected gift: it has effectively neutered congressional efforts to impose more serious sanctions. 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Trump's tariffs threat represents a change in rhetoric rather than substance. Moscow's mockery, therefore, may be justified. Putin has called Trump's bluff before and emerged victorious. With economic reality, political constraints, and America's own strategic interests all working in his favour, the Russian president may well have calculated that he can afford to laugh at yet another American ultimatum. The question isn't whether Putin will blink – it's whether Trump's threats will prove any more substantial than his previous deadlines. Moscow's confidence suggests they know the answer.


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