Latest news with #aerialbombardment
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Ukraine bombarded by deadly Russian strikes as peace talks falter: ‘shocked I'm alive'
Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal any time soon, days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. Advertisement The barrage was one of the fiercest of the three-year war, lasting several hours, striking six Ukrainian territories, and killing at least six people and injuring about 80 others, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk, and two people in Chernihiv. The attack came after US President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signalled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts. Ukrainian cities have come under regular bombardment since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians, according to the United Nations. 'Russia doesn't change its stripes,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Advertisement The war has continued unabated even as a US-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. The negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs, however, and the sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
CBC
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Renewed attacks by Russia kill at least 6 in Ukraine, officials say
Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon, days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. The barrage was one of the fiercest of the three-year war, lasting several hours, striking six Ukrainian territories, and killing at least six people and injuring about 80 others, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. The attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signalled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts. Ukrainian cities have come under regular bombardment since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians, according to the United Nations. "Russia doesn't change its stripes," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The war has continued unabated even as a U.S.-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. The negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs, however, and the sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting. WATCH | Tackling a lasting impact of the war: Rebuilding the faces of Ukraine's war 2 days ago Duration 3:53 Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin to break the deadlock. But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn't budged from its demands. "The Kremlin continues efforts to falsely portray Russia as willing to engage in good-faith negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, despite Russia's repeated refusal to offer any concessions," said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank, late Thursday. Further peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected in coming weeks, as is another exchange of prisoners of war. Russia's latest barrage included 407 drones and 44 ballistic and cruise missiles, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said. Ukrainian forces said they shot down about 30 of the cruise missiles and up to 200 of the drones. The Kyiv emergency workers were killed while responding to the strikes. "They were working under fire to help people," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Russia's Defence Ministry said it aimed at Ukrainian military targets with "long-range precision weapons" and successfully struck arms depots, drone factories and repair facilities, among other targets. But fitting a pattern for Russian attacks throughout the war, Friday's bombardment also struck apartment buildings and other non-military targets, according to The Associated Press. 'Shocked' to be alive In Kyiv, explosions were heard for hours as falling debris sparked fires across several districts, said city official Tymur Tkachenko. He urged people to seek shelter. Fourteen-year-old Kyiv resident Vitalina Vasylchenko sheltered in a parking garage with her six-year-old sister and their mother after an explosion blew one of their windows off its hinges. "I heard a buzzing sound, then my dad ran to me and covered me with his hand, then there was a very loud explosion," she said. "My whole life flashed before my eyes, I already thought that was it. I started having a panic attack.… I'm shocked that I'm alive." In Kyiv's Solomyanskyi district, a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-storey apartment building. Emergency services evacuated three people from the structure. The attack caused a blackout in some areas, and more than 2,000 households on the eastern bank of Kyiv's Dnipro river were without power, city officials said. Inside Ukraine's secret deep strike against Russian bombers | About That 4 days ago Duration 9:49 Ukrainian drones struck deep into enemy territory in Russia, with officials claiming the attack destroyed over 40 Russian warplanes. Andrew Chang explains how Ukraine is believed to have pulled off what it describes as its longest-range attack against Russia, and how it says it was able to do so undetected. Images provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters. Elsewhere, 10 people were injured by an aerial attack on the western Ukraine city of Ternopil, regional governor Viacheslav Nehoda said. The strike damaged industrial and infrastructure facilities, left parts of the city without electricity, and disrupted water supplies. Russia also targeted the western Lviv and Khmelnytskyi regions, the northern Chernihiv region, and the central Poltava region, where at least three people were injured. In Russia, air defences shot down 10 Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. As a precaution, flights at Moscow airports were temporarily suspended overnight Thursday into Friday and then again late Friday afternoon. Ukrainian drones also targeted three other regions of Russia, authorities said, damaging apartment buildings and industrial plants. Three people were injured, officials said. Russia's Defence Ministry said that air defences downed 174 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions early Friday. It added that three Ukrainian Neptune missiles were also shot down over the Black Sea. Ukraine struck airfields and other military targets in Russia, such as fuel storage tanks and transport hubs, the Ukrainian General Staff said. Also, a locomotive derailed early Friday in the Belgorod region after the track was blown up, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Russia has recently accused Ukraine of sabotaging the rail network.
SBS Australia
25-05-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Zelenskyy blames 'the silence of America' as Russia launches war's largest air attack on Ukraine
Russia has launched the largest aerial bombardment on Ukraine since the war began, launching 367 drones overnight. At least 12 people were killed, including three children, and over 60 were injured. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the silence of the US and others and called for more sanctions on Russia. Russian forces launched a barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight, including the capital Kyiv, in the largest aerial attack of the war so far, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more, officials said. The dead included three children in the northern region of Zhytomyr, local officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the United States, which has taken a softer public line on Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, since President Donald Trump took office, to speak out. "The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin," he wrote on Telegram. "Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia." It was the largest attack of the war in terms of weapons fired, although other strikes have killed more people. Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said 12 people had been killed and 60 more wounded. Earlier death tolls given separately by regional authorities and rescuers had put the number of dead at 13. "This was a combined, ruthless strike aimed at civilians. The enemy once again showed that its goal is fear and death," he wrote on Telegram. The assault comes as Ukraine and Russia prepared to conduct the third and final day of a prisoner swap in which both sides will exchange a total of 1,000 people each. US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg said on Sunday the attack was "a clear violation" of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols and called for an immediate ceasefire. Ukraine and its European allies have sought to push Moscow into signing a 30-day ceasefire as a first step to negotiating an end to the three-year war. Their efforts suffered a blow earlier this week when Trump declined to place further sanctions on Moscow for not agreeing to an immediate pause in fighting, as Kyiv had wanted. Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in its overnight assault, although it said it was able to down 266 drones and 45 missiles. Damage extended to a string of regional centres, including Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, as well as Mykolaiv in the south and Ternopil in the west. In Kyiv, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city's military administration, said 11 people were injured in drone strikes. No deaths were reported in the capital, although four were killed in the region around the city, according to officials. This was the second large aerial attack in two days. On Friday evening, Russia launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles at Kyiv in waves that continued through the night.
The Independent
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Children among 12 killed after Russia launches largest aerial bombardment of Ukraine war
Three children were among at least 12 people killed in Ukraine after Russian forces launched the largest aerial bombardment since the war started in February 2022. Russia launched 367 drones and missiles in Sunday's onslaught, striking more than 30 cities and villages, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force. Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and families in one village near the capital returned to find their homes burned down on Sunday. In Zhytomyr region, west of the city, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged eight, 12 and 17. Following the strikes, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the 'silence of America' was encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin as he called for Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Moscow. "These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities," Mr Zelensky wrote on X, adding that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, where university dormitories were hit, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions. 'Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia,' he said. 'Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day.' 'America's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages" Mr Putin, he added. "Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help." There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes. The aerial attacks came hours before Russia and Ukraine completed the final stage of a major prisoner exchange, with 1,000 swapped between the two countries. Russia's Defence Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday and 390 on Friday. President Zelensky confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that "303 Ukrainian defenders are home". He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the "Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service". The swap was agreed in talks held in Istanbul earlier this month - the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks. Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the country faced a 'sleepless night' as they were bombarded in the widespread aerial assault, which saw fires break out after falling drone debris hit homes and businesses. At least four people were killed in the capital itself, according to the security service, while 16 were injured. The three children were killed in in Zhytomyr region, where another 12 people were injured. A further four people were killed Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine, with another fatality reported in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine. In the village of Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv, devastated residents returned to find home burned down with their pets inside. "The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it's just terrible," said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She said she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren had not joined them for the weekend. "I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us," Ms Fedorenko said. "She said, 'No, mum, I'm not coming'. And thank God she didn't come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children's rooms were.' Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. "They burned to death," he said. "I want to bury them, but I'm not allowed yet."
