Latest news with #Russianattack
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
4 people killed in Russia and Ukraine as countries trade aerial attacks
Rescuers work at a damaged city hospital that was hit by a Russian guided air bomb in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko) Russia and Ukraine traded aerial attacks overnight, resulting in two deaths in each country, according to officials. Ukraine's southern Dnipro and northeastern Sumy regions came under combined rocket and drone attack, local officials reported. Head of the Dnipro regional administration Serhii Lysak said at least two people had died and five were wounded in the barrage. In the city of Dnipro, a multi-story building and business were damaged during the strike and in the region a fire engulfed a shopping center. In Sumy, the military administration said three people were injured. Kharkiv sustained an intense aerial bombardment overnight with local authorities reporting Ukraine's second-largest city was hit by four guided aerial bombs, two ballistic missiles and 15 drones over a three-hour period. In a post on Telegram, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said high-rise residential buildings, local businesses, roads and the communication network were damaged in the attack. He said at least five people were injured, including three rescue workers who were wounded in a double tap strike — where a second attack targets emergency workers trying to help people wounded in the initial attack. According to the daily air force report, in total Russia targeted Ukraine with 208 drones and 27 missiles overnight. It said according to preliminary data, air defense and electronic warfare took down or intercepted 183 drones and 17 missiles but hits from 10 missiles and 25 drones had been recorded in nine locations. In Russia, officials said that Ukrainian drones targeted multiple regions overnight. A drone attack on the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, killed two people, acting governor Yuri Slyusar reported. In the neighboring Stavropol region, drones hit an unspecified industrial facility, governor Vladimir Vladimirov said on Telegram. He added that the attack sparked a brief fire, but didn't specify where exactly. Vladimirov said cellphone internet in the region was restricted because of the attack — a measure authorities regularly take across the vast country that critics say helps widespread online censorship. An unconfirmed media report said videos posted online by local residents showed that the drones hit the Signal radio plant that makes jamming equipment. The Associated Press was unable to verify the claim. Drones also targeted Moscow, but were shot down, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, and an unspecified industrial facility in the Penza region southeast of the capital, Gov. Oleg Melnichenko said. Russia's Defense Ministry said that its air defenses shot down or intercepted a total of 54 Ukrainian drones, including 24 over the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, 12 over the Rostov region, six over the annexed Crimean Peninsula, four over the Azov sea, three over the Black Sea and a few others over the Orlov, Tula and Belgorod regions. Russian civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia overnight briefly halted flights in and out of airports serving the city of Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, as well as Vladikavkaz and Grozny in the North Caucasus. The Associated Press
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘It's blitz, blitz, blitz': Kyiv's shelters fill up as Russia intensifies aerial attacks
At 1am on Thursday, Dartsia Liuba went to the basement of her Kyiv apartment building with her two children and husband, Roma. The air-raid siren had gone off. A Russian attack was coming. Liuba scooped up her seven-month-old baby daughter, Halyna, and woke her bleary-eyed nine-year-old, Orysia, and they staggered down three floors to wait in sticky darkness. Soon explosions began. There was an ugly whine in the sky immediately above their district of Podil. It came from a Shahed kamikaze drone. The streets echoed with booms and rat-tat-tat machine-gun fire as Ukrainian air defence units tried to bring it down. The moped-like buzzing stopped – and then resumed as more drones appeared, in a swarm too big to count. Across Ukraine's capital, people took cover in metro stations, subways and on the lower floors of blocks of flats. They heeded official advice to stay between two walls, with bathrooms a favourite hiding spot. Last autumn, as Russia escalated its aerial raids, Liuba kitted out her shelter with camp beds, chairs and a squishy beanbag. The family bought a first aid kit and a fire extinguisher. In the early hours of Thursday, Orysia finally slept. At some point Roma and Halyna dozed off. Liuba couldn't sleep. She texted a friend: 'It's very scary. A lot of neighbours who don't normally come to the basement are down here. It's hard for me to deal with the explosions. I can barely hold myself together. My head hurts.' At 5am she took the kids upstairs, returning at 6am to the shelter because of incoming ballistic missiles. Russia has been pounding Ukrainian towns and cities since the beginning of Vladimir Putin's full-scale 2022 invasion. In recent months, however, these raids have become dramatically worse. One explanation is military-technical: the Kremlin has increased drone production, building new factories. Another is geo-political: since returning to the White House in January, Donald Trump has pivoted towards Moscow. Earlier this week, Trump reversed a Pentagon decision to stop US weapons from being sent to Ukraine. Some interpreted this as a sign the US president has finally tired of Putin, who has snubbed a White House ceasefire proposal. True or not, the regular arms deliveries that characterised the Joe Biden years have fizzled out. With Russian troops moving forward in the east, Ukraine's situation grows more precarious. Kyiv has previously relied on Washington to provide interceptor missiles for its Patriot anti-aircraft defence systems. Ukraine's missile stocks are running dangerously low. And so, enemy drones – sent on chaotic trajectories – get through. Trump has now promised to send 10 interceptor missiles, reports suggest. Ukrainian officials are grateful, but say these numbers are too minuscule to make much difference. With each fresh onslaught Russia exceeds its own grim tally. In June 2024 it fired 580 rockets and drones at Ukraine; in June 2025 it was 5,209. On Wednesday it sent a record 728 drones and 13 Kinzhal and Iskander missiles. Most were directed at Lutsk, a city near the Polish border. Thursday's 10-hour raid on Kyiv killed two people and injured 28. According to the UN, Ukrainian civilian casualties are at a three-year high. 'It's like the London blitz but far worse. This is blitz, blitz, blitz,' Liuba said on Thursday, brewing a pot of strong coffee in her second-floor apartment, and gulping a painkiller. The raids left her and her fellow mums exhausted, numb, wrung-out and forgetful, she said. 'It's a very weird state, a delirium. You wake up in the morning trying to do normal things, like take your kids to school or do laundry. But you feel totally stressed.' Liuba had fled the city of Irpin, just outside Kyiv, in March 2022, as Russian tanks closed in. She spent a year as a refugee in London, with Orysia going to Highgate primary school, before returning to Ukraine. 'I missed my family,' she explained. In labour last November, while giving birth to Halyna, Liuba spent hours in a maternity hospital shelter during an attack. Her husband, Roma, is a soldier. 'Since the war I take mild antidepressants, on and off,' she said. On Thursday morning a pall of smoke hung over the capital as groggy residents inspected the damage. One drone had hit a block in Sichovykh Striltsiv Street, in the centre of Kyiv, setting fire to the roof and top floor. Firefighters doused the blackened residential building with water. The twisted remains of the drone – a Geran-2 model, serial number 29316 – lay on the pavement, swept into a neat pile. 'Last night was terrible. It gets worse and worse,' said Nataliya Serhiyivna, an accountant who works in the building opposite. 'There were so many Shaheds, and impacts. A young policewoman was killed.' She had spent the night in the metro. 'You can't get reach the platform. People are lying on the floor and stairs. Everywhere is full. We need better air defence. Western countries should help more. Nobody gives us safety.' Workers were repairing broken glass at a currency exchange and a nail bar. Asked about the latest bombing, one of the bar workers, 24-year-old Alina, said: 'It's fucked up. Russia is a terrorist state. We are not the first country to suffer.' Alina said that as drones circled above, she scrolled through social media and news updates. She added: 'I watch a lot of cat videos on TikTok. I have a cat and find the videos calming. It's banal psychology, I know.' Down the road, close to Lukyanivska metro station, another drone had punched a hole in an old brick-built factory. Across from it, broken orange-and-green letters from a cosmetics store – – had been propped against a fence; workers fitted boards of plywood to shattered windows. The district is home to many Ukrainians displaced by fighting from other parts of the country. It has been repeatedly hit, with apartments consequently cheap to rent. The biggest damage was to people, especially to the younger generation, a Ukrainian visitor, Karina Obermeier, suggested. She and her German husband, Walter, had travelled from their home in Munich to see relatives in Kyiv. 'We know one 16-year-old who doesn't laugh any more. She won't leave her father. Before the war she was a normal girl. My brother developed stomach pains. A female friend drinks every night to cope with the situation.' Liuba said the bombardment had drawn people together. During long hours in the shelter she chatted to her neighbours – the 'guy with a moustache' from upstairs, and another family living on the top floor. They discussed herbal tea remedies. When Halyna was asleep, Liuba said she worked on her laptop – she is a graphic designer – and read. Of Russia, she said: 'They are trying to kill us more. It's the tactics of terror: throw, throw, throw.' By late morning on Thursday, all was calm. Orysia showed off a farewell album her friends from primary school in London had given her. There were happy photos of trips to the National Gallery and to Buckingham Palace. 'I liked my teachers very much,' she said in English. Liuba smoked a rolled-up cigarette on the balcony; a baby's car seat was piled on top of a green flak jacket. Later this month she and the girls will travel to the Netherlands for a holiday. 'For Orysia it will be nice to spend some time in a normal situation. We will return in time for the new school year,' Liuba said. How would life be different in the Netherlands? 'I imagine we are going to sleep in a bed for the whole night next to a window in a quiet village,' she replied.
CTV News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
By day, the Ukrainian capital is alive and humming. By night, it's a battleground
A family sleep on the platform of a metro station as they take cover during a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) KYIV, Ukraine — By day, the Ukrainian capital hums with life — crowded metros, dog walkers and children on playgrounds. By night, Kyiv becomes a battleground as Russia unleashes relentless drone and missile attacks that chase much of the population underground for safety. The nighttime assaults have intensified in the fourth year of the full-scale invasion, with the number of drones sometimes exceeding 700. Swarms of 1,000 drones could soon become the norm, officials say. Many people in Kyiv describe the recent attacks as the most terrifying of the war, and even residents who previously ignored sirens have been driven into bomb shelters in the subway system. 'During the day, you walk around, drink coffee, smile, meet friends, talk, have hobbies, chill,' said 25-year-old Karyna Holf. 'But at night, you brace for death every time you hear the sound of a Shahed drone or a missile.' A Russian attack on Thursday badly damaged her apartment. She was in the living room near a window when she heard the whistling sound of an incoming weapon. Moments later, the home shattered into pieces. She was lucky to survive. The constant proximity to death often fuels dark humor. At night, many are paralyzed by fear. But by day, they joke that they don't sleep naked, just in case they end up under rubble and rescuers have to pull them out. 'It's like a computer game where you try to survive and still remain functional,' said 35-year-old Danylo Kuzemskyi, describing the balance between daily life and war. The buzzing of drones — often ending in explosions — and the constant thud of air defences can last for hours. The noise leaves many people chronically exhausted from lack of sleep. The drones blanket wide areas of the city, covered in darkness pierced only by the flashes of air defence fire. The air is filled with smoke and the smell of gunpowder. Since the beginning of the year, more than 800 sites in Kyiv have been hit, including over 600 residential buildings, said the head of the Kyiv city administration, Tymur Tkachenko. 'They are deliberately hitting apartment buildings and urban districts,' he said. 'This is their tactic — to spread fear and increase the number of civilian casualties.' Russia insists that it strikes only military targets, though there are abundant examples throughout the war of civilian infrastructure being hit. The attacks have also strengthened the solidarity among Kyiv residents. On social media, people post with pride that they can still grab a cappuccino in the morning, make it to a workout or keep their appointments — without canceling a thing. 'I understand that Russia's terror is aimed not only at military targets but at the entire Ukrainian people. Russia is trying to demoralize us,' said Kuzemskyi, whose apartment was destroyed in a previous attack. 'Is it succeeding? In my case, I'd say no.' He is among those who no longer go to shelters during attacks, saying he now 'prioritizes sleep' over safety. For 23-year-old Oleksandra Umanets, who has a 10-month-old son, the shelter in the subway feels safer than her home at night. Around 5 a.m., she usually leaves the shelter with her child, walks home, lies down to sleep and wakes up relieved to see her baby smiling. 'I see the same kids running, playing — and moms who are smiling,' she said of their walks during the day. 'You wouldn't guess they spent the night in the metro or didn't sleep at all, even though everyone knows it. But no one talks about it. Everyone just keeps living.' Then evening comes. She packs a bag, places it by the door, prepares the stroller and lays out clothes for herself and her baby. When the siren sounds again, she's ready to hide. 'When it's about you — that's one thing. But when it's about your child, for what?' she said. 'To kill him just for being born in Ukraine? He didn't choose where to be born.' Hanna Arhirova, Vasilisa Stepanenko And Illia Novikov, The Associated Press
CNA
11-07-2025
- Health
- CNA
Russian attack on Kharkiv damages maternity hospital, sending patients fleeing
KHARKIV, Ukraine: A Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Friday (Jul 11) damaged a maternity hospital, authorities said, terrifying patients as windows shattered and shards of glass fell on to the beds, leaving families rushing to shelter their babies. Three women and three newborns suffered acute stress and received medical help, according to Kharkiv's regional prosecutors. Oleksandra Lavrynenko was at the hospital after just giving birth. "We woke up and heard a very loud whistle. My husband and I got up and quickly went to our little one, and at that moment there was a hit and the windows shattered," she said. They rushed to shelter one-day-old Maksym underground. "It was very scary, because I was so full of adrenaline that I probably forgot that I had stitches. Now I am slowly recovering from the shock," Lavrynenko said. "It is very difficult and scary to give birth at this time," she said, laying next to her son. Shards of glass littered the medical facility's floors and beds and patients and staff prepared to evacuate. Oleksandr Kondriatskyi, one of the doctors, said the attack damaged the side of the building where the delivery and surgery rooms were located. "Everyone, both the staff and the women, suffered severe stress," he said, adding that some of the patients only gave birth a couple days ago and had had surgery. Russia has i ncreased the intensity of aerial attacks in recent weeks, and carried out more missile and drone strikes across Ukraine. It has frequently targeted Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, located in the northeast of the country, since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022. Nine people were injured in Kharkiv and an apartment building was also damaged in the attack. One person died and at least five more were injured as a result of various Russian attacks over the past day in the surrounding region, governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia destroys 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid in Zaporizhzhia
A warehouse containing at least a hundred tonnes of humanitarian aid has been destroyed due to a Russian attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia. Source: Radio Liberty Details: The city had reportedly received five lorries loaded with humanitarian aid. The scenes of the strikes were the places where this aid was provided to internally displaced persons and residents of frontline areas. Radio Liberty's post specified that all 100 tonnes of aid had been burned. The damage is estimated at US$3 million. Screenshot Background: On the night of 13-14 June, Russian troops attacked Zaporizhzhia with 14 Shahed-type kamikaze drones. Two law enforcement officers were injured and civilian infrastructure and cars damaged in the attack. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
