‘I'm still hoping for a peaceful sky': Catching up with a Ukrainian teen after 3 years of war
Three years ago, Ali Velshi travelled to Eastern Europe to cover the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While talking to Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, Ali met then 15-year-old Nastya Shpot. She and her family were forced to flee their hometown, leaving behind Nastya's father, a military chaplain who stayed to fight for their country. Ali kept in touch with Nastya and her family over the years and now, just one day before the 3rd anniversary of the start of Russia's full scale invasio
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CNN
10 minutes ago
- CNN
Putin promised to make Ukraine pay for its airbase attacks. What does he have left?
The operation, codenamed 'Spiderweb,' was 18 months in the making. Dozens of hidden drones emerged from trucks parked in Russia, racing to airfields thousands of miles from Ukraine and destroying at least 12 bombers. Although the operation was a huge boost for Ukrainian morale, many in the country braced for Moscow's retaliation. Their fears sharpened when Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump on Wednesday that the Kremlin would 'have to respond' to the attack. Russia's initial retaliation began Thursday night, in the form of a massive drone and missile strike on Kyiv and across the country. Russia's Ministry of Defense described the strikes as a 'response' to Kyiv's 'terrorist acts.' The attack was punishing, but not qualitatively different to what Ukraine has grown used to over three years of war. Olha, a 67-year-old resident of Kyiv who asked to be identified only by her first name, told CNN that if Thursday night's strikes were Russia's retaliation, then Ukraine faces 'many such retaliations – once a month, even more.' Russia's response so far to Ukraine's extraordinary operation has raised questions about Putin's ability to escalate the war and exact the retribution that many of his supporters have clamored for. And it has left Ukrainians wondering if it has already felt the brunt of Russia's response, or if the worst is yet to come. In determining Russia's retaliation, analysts say, Putin has faced several constraints. One is political: Mounting a large-scale, innovative response to the 'Spiderweb' operation would be akin to admitting that Ukraine had inflicted a serious blow against Russia – an impression the Kremlin has been at pains to avoid, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington DC. In a meeting with government ministers on Wednesday, Putin received a lengthy briefing on recent bridge collapses in Kursk and Bryansk, blamed by Russia on Ukraine. Yet, aside from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's reference to recent 'criminal provocations' by Kyiv, there was no mention of the 'Spiderweb' operation. In Russian state media's coverage of Putin's call Wednesday with Trump, little was made of the Russian president's pledge to 'respond' to Ukraine's attack. Instead, the reports focused on the outcome of recent peace talks in Istanbul. Stepanenko said this is part of a deliberate strategy. 'Putin is trying to make this go away and hide this failure yet again,' she told CNN. She said a high-profile response 'would contradict the Kremlin's strategic objective of making it all go away and sweeping this under the rug.' Putin has also faced material constraints. Whereas Russia's near-daily strikes on Ukraine used to involve just dozens of drones, they now routinely use more than 400. A day before Ukraine's 'Spiderweb' operation, on May 31, Russia launched 472 drones at Ukraine – a record in the three-year war, which was surpassed again during Sunday night's attacks, which used 479 drones. 'Russia's response is constrained by the amount of force they're constantly using,' said William Alberque, a former NATO arms control official now at the Stimson Center think tank. 'How would you know if Russia was actually retaliating? What would be more brutal than them destroying apartment flats or attacking shopping malls? What would escalation look like?' Russia's pro-war community of Telegram bloggers was not short of ideas. Some prominent channels said that Kyiv's strikes on Moscow's nuclear-capable bombers warranted a nuclear strike on Ukraine. Others called for a strike using the Oreshnik ballistic missile, which was unveiled by Putin last year, and has so far been used only once against Ukraine. Although Putin often praises his new missile, it has limited uses, said Mark Galeotti, a leading Russia analyst. 'The Oreshnik is really geared for a particular kind of target. It's not that accurate… and it's not a bunker-buster,' he told CNN, meaning the missile would struggle to take out key manufacturing and decision-making hubs that Ukraine has moved deep underground. 'If you're going to deploy it… you want it to have a target that's worthy of the name.' One target could be Ukraine's security services, the SBU, which masterminded the 'Spiderweb' operation, he said. 'But that's not something you can do quickly,' he cautioned. 'In some ways, Putin has already swept away most of the escalation rungs at his disposal, which means that he doesn't have the option for clear punishment.' In a sign that Moscow's 'retaliation' may be ongoing, Russia's Ministry of Defense said it had struck a Ukrainian airfield in the western Rivne region on Sunday night – a week after Ukraine's attacks on Russian airfields. The ministry said the attack was 'one of the retaliatory strikes' for Kyiv's 'terrorist attacks' against Russia's airfields, suggesting there may be more to come. Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's air force, said the attack on the airfield was 'one of the biggest ever carried out by Russia.' Although air defenses 'performed very well,' he said it was 'impossible to shoot down everything.' Although Putin may be constrained in his ability to respond to Ukraine's spectacular operation with one of Russia's own, this may not matter on the battlefield, said Galeotti. 'From a political perspective… it's the Ukrainians who demonstrate that they are the nimble, imaginative, effective ones, and the Russians are just thuggish brutes who continue to grind along,' he said. 'But from the military perspective, in some ways, that's fine.' While Ukraine may have the initiative in terms of headlines and spectacle, Russia still has the initiative on the battlefield. Russian troops have opened a new front in Ukraine's northern Sumy region and are now just 12 miles from the main city. And on Sunday, Moscow claimed that its forces had advanced into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time, after months of clashes. The question is whether 'Putin is willing to accept whatever damage happens on the home front, precisely for his slow attrition grind forward,' said Galeotti. Alberque, of the Stimson Center, said a lot rests on whether Ukraine has been weaving more 'Spiderwebs,' or whether its drone attack was a one-off. 'The fact that this operation was a year- and-a-half in the planning – how many other operations are a year-in right now?' he asked. Two days after the drone attack, Ukraine's SBU unveiled another operation – its third attempt to blow up the bridge connecting Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula. The bridge over the Kerch Strait was not significantly damaged, but the attack reinforced the SBU's commitment to impressing upon Moscow that there are costs to continuing its war. If 'humiliating' operations like those continue, Putin will come under greater pressure to deliver a response that is different in kind, not just degree, Alberque said. 'Putin is such a creature of strongman politics,' he added. '(The Kremlin) is going to look for other ways to strike back, to show the Russian people that Putin is a great wartime president who is inflicting horrible damage on his enemy, rather than a victim of these spectacular Ukrainian attacks.' CNN's Kosta Gak and Victoria Butenko contributed reporting.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lithuanian foreign minister comments on his journey to Kyiv during Russian attack: "Shower of missiles and drones"
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys, who arrived in Kyiv on Monday 9 June for an official visit, has shared that he had travelled to the Ukrainian capital through a "shower of missiles and drones" launched by Russia. Source: Budrys on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda Details: Budrys noted that Russia has recently intensified its strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Quote: "This morning, our train had to pass through the shower of missiles and drones striking the cities of Rivne and Dubno. Just days ago, a strike on Kharkiv killed and injured dozens, including children." Details: He emphasised that these are "deliberate acts of terror aimed at breaking Ukraine's will". Quote: "But Ukraine stands firm, defending not just its territory, but the principles of freedom and democracy in Europe. In fact, Ukraine is defending Europe. Peace will not come through appeasement. The world must stay united in supporting Ukraine – militarily, economically and politically." Background: Budrys is scheduled to hold a number of meetings in Kyiv, including with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha and Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna. Russia launched a total of 499 drones and missiles on Ukraine on the night of 8-9 June, of which 479 were downed by air defence systems. Rivne Oblast came under particularly heavy attack. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Los Angeles Times
35 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Ukraine says Russia launched the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the war
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, the Ukrainian air force said Monday, as the Kremlin presses its summer offensive amid direct peace talks that have yet to deliver progress on stopping the fighting. As well as 479 drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine. Ukraine's air force said its air defenses destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight on Sunday night, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target. Officials said one person was injured. It was not possible to independently verify the claims. A recent escalation in aerial attacks has coincided with a renewed Russian battlefield push on eastern and northeastern parts of the roughly 620-mile front line. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Sunday that in some of those areas 'the situation is very difficult.' He provided no details. Ukraine is short-handed on the front line against its bigger enemy and needs further military support from its Western partners, especially air defenses. But uncertainty about the U.S. policy on the war has fueled doubts about how much help Kyiv can count on. Ukraine has produced some stunning counter-punches, however. Its recent drone attack on distant Russian air bases was unprecedented in its scope and sophistication. The Ukrainian General Staff claimed Monday that special operations forces struck two Russian fighter jets stationed at the Savasleyka airfield in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region located some 650 kilometers northeast from the Ukrainian border. The statement did not say how the planes were hit. There was no immediate comment on the claim from the Russian authorities. Some Russian war bloggers said there was no damage to the warplanes. Russian officials have said the recent intensified assaults are part of a series of retaliations for Ukraine's strike on air bases that were hosting nuclear-capable strategic bombers. A strike on a Ukrainian air base in Dubno, in the western Rivne region, was one such response, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday. Two recent rounds of direct peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul have yielded no significant breakthroughs beyond pledges to swap prisoners as well as thousands of their dead and seriously wounded troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated he will keep fighting until his conditions are met. The exchange of hundreds of soldiers and civilians has been a small sign of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to agree on a ceasefire. More prisoners were swapped Monday in a staggered process taking place over coming days, Zelensky and the Russian Defense Ministry announced, though neither side said how many. Those swapped included wounded and seriously wounded soldiers, as well as those under 25, Zelensky said. 'The process is quite complicated, there are many sensitive details, negotiations continue virtually every day,' he added. But the two sides have disagreed over the transfer of soldiers killed in action. The Russian Defense Ministry alleged that Ukraine over the weekend failed to pick up the bodies of its fallen soldiers that Russia made available for collection. But Zelensky claimed that Moscow hadn't sent to Kyiv the names of more than 1,000 Ukrainians whose bodies are currently in Russian-controlled territories, as had been agreed. He accused Russian authorities of playing 'dirty' games. Even so, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday the swap is expected to go ahead, although he said there were no specific arrangements so far for the transfer. Ukraine's intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said the exchange of soldiers' bodies will begin this week. Russia has repeatedly targeted civilian areas of Ukraine with Shahed drones during the war, as happened on Sunday night. The attacks have killed more that 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. Russia says it only attacks military targets. Ukraine has developed long-range drones that continue to strike deep inside Russia. Russia's Ministry of Defense said Monday that it shot down 49 Ukrainian drones overnight over seven Russian regions. Two drones hit a plant specializing in electronic warfare equipment in the Chuvashia region, located more than 370 miles east of Moscow, local officials reported. Alexander Gusev, head of Russia's Voronezh region, said that 25 drones had been shot down there overnight, damaging a gas pipeline and sparking a small fire. Novikov writes for the Associated Press.
