Latest news with #Spider'sWeb
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
'What's there to talk about?': Putin on Zelensky's call for direct meeting
As tensions between Russia and Ukraine Russian soar, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined to meet and hold discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky, reported Bloomberg. Putin's comments come after Ukraine launched a big-scale drone strike on Russia over the weekend on June 1, a day ahead of when both the parties were scheduled to hold peace negotiations in Istanbul. During the attack, codenamed 'Spider's Web', Ukraine reportedly destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep inside their territory. Also read: Trump says Putin plans to retaliate after Ukraine drone strikes 'How can such meetings be held under these conditions? What is there to talk about?' said Putin during a televised meeting with government officials, reported Bloomberg. Putin also discussed several bridge collapses in Russia which it has blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv, however, has denied any involvement in the collapses. Hours before Putin's meeting with his officials, Zelensky reiterated his willingness to meet Putin to hold peace negotiations, reported Bloomberg. His remarks also came after the Istanbul peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Pointing to Russia's demands during peace negotiations, Zelensky said that there is no point in continuing low-level peace talks in Istanbul to put an end to war. 'To continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that does not resolve anything further is, in my opinion, meaningless,' Bloomberg quoted Zelensky as saying. He also called Russia's conditions for peace an 'ultimatum.' Zelensky described the June 2 negotiations with Russia in Istanbul as a 'political performance' and 'artificial diplomacy', reported AP. During the talks held on June 2, which lasted for over an hour, both the countries failed to come even an inch closer to put an end to the over three-year-old war. However, they did agree on exchanging dead and seriously injured troops. Both Russia and Ukraine agreed to swap 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Ukraine hit fewer Russian planes than it estimated, US officials say
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States assesses that Ukraine's drone attack over the weekend hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two U.S. officials told Reuters, a figure that is about half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Still, the U.S. officials described the attack as highly significant, with one of them cautioning that it could drive Moscow to a far more severe negotiating position in the U.S.-brokered talks to end more than three years of war. Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post. Trump added it "was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace." Ukraine says it targeted four air bases across Russia using 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from containers close to the targets, in an operation codenamed "Spider's Web." It released footage on Wednesday showing its drones striking Russian strategic bombers and landing on the dome antennas of two A-50 military spy planes, of which there are only a handful in Russia's fleet. The two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, estimated the Ukrainian strikes destroyed around 10 and hit up to 20 warplanes in total. That estimate is far lower than the one Zelenskiy offered to reporters in Kyiv earlier on Wednesday. He said half of the 41 Russian aircraft struck were too damaged to be repaired. Reuters could not independently verify the numbers from Kyiv or the United States. Russia, which prioritizes its nuclear forces as a deterrent to the United States and NATO, urged the United States and Britain on Wednesday to restrain Kyiv after the attacks. Russia and the United States together hold about 88% of all nuclear weapons. The United States says it was not given any notice by Kyiv ahead of the attack. The war in Ukraine is intensifying despite nearly four months of efforts by Trump, who says he wants peace after the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Russian and Ukrainian embassies also did not immediately reply. ESCALATION RISK Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, said the damage to Russia caused by the operation amounted to $7 billion, and 34% of the strategic cruise missile carriers at Russia's main airfields were hit. Commercial satellite imagery taken after the Ukrainian drone attack shows what experts told Reuters appear to be damaged Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers and Tu-22 Backfires, long-range, supersonic strategic bombers that Russia has used to launch missile strikes against Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry has acknowledged that Ukraine targeted airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions and were repelled in the last three locations. It has also said several aircraft caught fire in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions. The attack has bolstered Ukrainian morale after months of unrelenting Russian battlefield pressure and numerous powerful missile and drone strikes by Moscow's forces. It also demonstrated that Kyiv, even as it struggles to halt invading Russian forces, can surprise Moscow deep inside its own territory with attacks up to 4,300 km (2,670 miles) from the front lines. Influential Russian military bloggers have accused Russian authorities, especially the aerospace command, of negligence and complacency for allowing the nuclear-capable bombers to be targeted. Trump's Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war in Ukraine was "going way up," particularly since Kyiv had struck one leg of Russia's "nuclear triad," or weapons on land, in the air and at sea. "In the national security space, when you attack an opponent's part of their national survival system, which is their triad, the nuclear triad, that means your risk level goes up because you don't know what the other side is going to do," Trump's envoy, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on Tuesday.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- General
- Straits Times
Ukraine hit fewer Russian planes than it estimated, US officials say
FILE PHOTO: A satellite view shows military aircraft, some sitting destroyed, at the Belaya air base, near Stepnoy, Irkutsk region, Russia, June 4, 2025, after Ukraine launched a drone attack, dubbed \"Operation Spider's Web\", targeting Russian strategic bombers during Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Ukraine hit fewer Russian planes than it estimated, US officials say WASHINGTON - The United States assesses that Ukraine's drone attack over the weekend hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two U.S. officials told Reuters, a figure that is about half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Still, the U.S. officials described the attack as highly significant, with one of them cautioning that it could drive Moscow to a far more severe negotiating position in the U.S.-brokered talks to end more than three years of war. Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post. Trump added it "was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace." Ukraine says it targeted four air bases across Russia using 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from containers close to the targets, in an operation codenamed "Spider's Web." It released footage on Wednesday showing its drones striking Russian strategic bombers and landing on the dome antennas of two A-50 military spy planes, of which there are only a handful in Russia's fleet. The two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, estimated the Ukrainian strikes destroyed around 10 and hit up to 20 warplanes in total. That estimate is far lower than the one Zelenskiy offered to reporters in Kyiv earlier on Wednesday. He said half of the 41 Russian aircraft struck were too damaged to be repaired. Reuters could not independently verify the numbers from Kyiv or the United States. Russia, which prioritizes its nuclear forces as a deterrent to the United States and NATO, urged the United States and Britain on Wednesday to restrain Kyiv after the attacks. Russia and the United States together hold about 88% of all nuclear weapons. The United States says it was not given any notice by Kyiv ahead of the attack. The war in Ukraine is intensifying despite nearly four months of efforts by Trump, who says he wants peace after the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Russian and Ukrainian embassies also did not immediately reply. ESCALATION RISK Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, said the damage to Russia caused by the operation amounted to $7 billion, and 34% of the strategic cruise missile carriers at Russia's main airfields were hit. Commercial satellite imagery taken after the Ukrainian drone attack shows what experts told Reuters appear to be damaged Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers and Tu-22 Backfires, long-range, supersonic strategic bombers that Russia has used to launch missile strikes against Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry has acknowledged that Ukraine targeted airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions and were repelled in the last three locations. It has also said several aircraft caught fire in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions. The attack has bolstered Ukrainian morale after months of unrelenting Russian battlefield pressure and numerous powerful missile and drone strikes by Moscow's forces. It also demonstrated that Kyiv, even as it struggles to halt invading Russian forces, can surprise Moscow deep inside its own territory with attacks up to 4,300 km (2,670 miles) from the front lines. Influential Russian military bloggers have accused Russian authorities, especially the aerospace command, of negligence and complacency for allowing the nuclear-capable bombers to be targeted. Trump's Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war in Ukraine was "going way up," particularly since Kyiv had struck one leg of Russia's "nuclear triad," or weapons on land, in the air and at sea. "In the national security space, when you attack an opponent's part of their national survival system, which is their triad, the nuclear triad, that means your risk level goes up because you don't know what the other side is going to do," Trump's envoy, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on Tuesday. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
Exclusive-Ukraine hit fewer Russian planes than it estimated, US officials say
FILE PHOTO: A satellite view shows military aircraft, some sitting destroyed, at the Belaya air base, near Stepnoy, Irkutsk region, Russia, June 4, 2025, after Ukraine launched a drone attack, dubbed "Operation Spider's Web", targeting Russian strategic bombers during Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States assesses that Ukraine's drone attack over the weekend hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two U.S. officials told Reuters, a figure that is about half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Still, the U.S. officials described the attack as highly significant, with one of them cautioning that it could drive Moscow to a far more severe negotiating position in the U.S.-brokered talks to end more than three years of war. Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post. Trump added it "was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace." Ukraine says it targeted four air bases across Russia using 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from containers close to the targets, in an operation codenamed "Spider's Web." It released footage on Wednesday showing its drones striking Russian strategic bombers and landing on the dome antennas of two A-50 military spy planes, of which there are only a handful in Russia's fleet. The two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, estimated the Ukrainian strikes destroyed around 10 and hit up to 20 warplanes in total. That estimate is far lower than the one Zelenskiy offered to reporters in Kyiv earlier on Wednesday. He said half of the 41 Russian aircraft struck were too damaged to be repaired. Reuters could not independently verify the numbers from Kyiv or the United States. Russia, which prioritizes its nuclear forces as a deterrent to the United States and NATO, urged the United States and Britain on Wednesday to restrain Kyiv after the attacks. Russia and the United States together hold about 88% of all nuclear weapons. The United States says it was not given any notice by Kyiv ahead of the attack. The war in Ukraine is intensifying despite nearly four months of efforts by Trump, who says he wants peace after the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Russian and Ukrainian embassies also did not immediately reply. ESCALATION RISK Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, said the damage to Russia caused by the operation amounted to $7 billion, and 34% of the strategic cruise missile carriers at Russia's main airfields were hit. Commercial satellite imagery taken after the Ukrainian drone attack shows what experts told Reuters appear to be damaged Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers and Tu-22 Backfires, long-range, supersonic strategic bombers that Russia has used to launch missile strikes against Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry has acknowledged that Ukraine targeted airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions and were repelled in the last three locations. It has also said several aircraft caught fire in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions. The attack has bolstered Ukrainian morale after months of unrelenting Russian battlefield pressure and numerous powerful missile and drone strikes by Moscow's forces. It also demonstrated that Kyiv, even as it struggles to halt invading Russian forces, can surprise Moscow deep inside its own territory with attacks up to 4,300 km (2,670 miles) from the front lines. Influential Russian military bloggers have accused Russian authorities, especially the aerospace command, of negligence and complacency for allowing the nuclear-capable bombers to be targeted. Trump's Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war in Ukraine was "going way up," particularly since Kyiv had struck one leg of Russia's "nuclear triad," or weapons on land, in the air and at sea. "In the national security space, when you attack an opponent's part of their national survival system, which is their triad, the nuclear triad, that means your risk level goes up because you don't know what the other side is going to do," Trump's envoy, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on Tuesday. (Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Don Durfee and Rod Nickel)
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
Ukraine hit fewer Russian planes than it estimated, US officials say
* US officials estimate 10 Russian warplanes destroyed in Ukraine drone attack * Ukraine's operation 'Spider's Web' targeted four Russian air bases with drones * Risk of escalation seen rising as Ukraine strikes Russia's nuclear-capable bombers WASHINGTON, - The United States assesses that Ukraine's drone attack over the weekend hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two U.S. officials told Reuters, a figure that is about half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Still, the U.S. officials described the attack as highly significant, with one of them cautioning that it could drive Moscow to a far more severe negotiating position in the U.S.-brokered talks to end more than three years of war. Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post. Trump added it "was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace." Ukraine says it targeted four air bases across Russia using 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from containers close to the targets, in an operation codenamed "Spider's Web." It released footage on Wednesday showing its drones striking Russian strategic bombers and landing on the dome antennas of two A-50 military spy planes, of which there are only a handful in Russia's fleet. The two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, estimated the Ukrainian strikes destroyed around 10 and hit up to 20 warplanes in total. That estimate is far lower than the one Zelenskiy offered to reporters in Kyiv earlier on Wednesday. He said half of the 41 Russian aircraft struck were too damaged to be repaired. Reuters could not independently verify the numbers from Kyiv or the United States. Russia, which prioritizes its nuclear forces as a deterrent to the United States and NATO, urged the United States and Britain on Wednesday to restrain Kyiv after the attacks. Russia and the United States together hold about 88% of all nuclear weapons. The United States says it was not given any notice by Kyiv ahead of the attack. The war in Ukraine is intensifying despite nearly four months of efforts by Trump, who says he wants peace after the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Russian and Ukrainian embassies also did not immediately reply. ESCALATION RISK Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, said the damage to Russia caused by the operation amounted to $7 billion, and 34% of the strategic cruise missile carriers at Russia's main airfields were hit. Commercial satellite imagery taken after the Ukrainian drone attack shows what experts told Reuters appear to be damaged Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers and Tu-22 Backfires, long-range, supersonic strategic bombers that Russia has used to launch missile strikes against Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry has acknowledged that Ukraine targeted airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions and were repelled in the last three locations. It has also said several aircraft caught fire in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions. The attack has bolstered Ukrainian morale after months of unrelenting Russian battlefield pressure and numerous powerful missile and drone strikes by Moscow's forces. It also demonstrated that Kyiv, even as it struggles to halt invading Russian forces, can surprise Moscow deep inside its own territory with attacks up to 4,300 km from the front lines. Influential Russian military bloggers have accused Russian authorities, especially the aerospace command, of negligence and complacency for allowing the nuclear-capable bombers to be targeted. Trump's Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war in Ukraine was "going way up," particularly since Kyiv had struck one leg of Russia's "nuclear triad," or weapons on land, in the air and at sea. "In the national security space, when you attack an opponent's part of their national survival system, which is their triad, the nuclear triad, that means your risk level goes up because you don't know what the other side is going to do," Trump's envoy, Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on Tuesday.
