Latest news with #airattack
CBC
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Following Russia's largest air attack, Ukrainians want 'real action' to achieve peace
Social Sharing Ukraine faced its largest air attack since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, as an onslaught of drones and missiles struck cities across the country early Sunday. The attack marked the second night in a row of intense aerial strikes. According to Ukraine's air force spokesperson, Yuriy Ignat, Russia launched a record 355 drones and nine cruise missiles that hit dozens of regions, including the capital, Kyiv. At least 12 people were killed and dozens more injured in the strikes. Among the victims were three siblings — ages 8, 12 and 17 — who were killed in the northern region of Zhytomyr. Russia ramped up its aerial assault on Ukrainian cities starting Friday, unleashing nightly waves of drone attacks that have forced residents to seek refuge in air raid shelters, basements and metro stations. The Kremlin has said the attacks were aimed at military targets and denies targeting civilians. Ukrainian activist Olena Halushka is the co-founder of the International Centre for Ukrainian Victory. Based in Kyiv, she spoke with As It Happens host Nil Köksal about what she hopes the international community will do. Olena, have you slept at all over the last three nights? The last three nights were absolutely sleepless. One of the nights I spent in the metro station sheltering from the Russian ballistic missiles. The other two, I slept at home but I was regularly waking up by the explosions. They were very loud and of course it was very chilling. People have had to try to become accustomed to air raids and sheltering. What were the conversations like this time with people who were also there? On one hand, you are trying to get accustomed because otherwise you wouldn't be able to survive to live in such conditions. But on the other hand, it is still impossible to do that fully. If you take a look on Kyiv's reality, I can hardly recall more than five nights over the last half a year where we didn't have air raids, where we didn't have drones coming, or we didn't have missiles. People are super frustrated and tired and sleep [deprived]. This is the means of torture which Russians are using in the prisons, but they are using this also against tens of millions of Ukrainians keeping us all awake at night. Russia's deadly air attack the largest of war so far, Ukraine says 1 day ago Duration 3:29 Ukrainian officials say a massive Russian attack of drones and missiles targeted Kyiv and other regions in Ukraine early Sunday for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to Ukraine's security service. Russia is once again saying that its targets were military installations, but how does what has happened over the last several nights compare to what you have seen and experienced before? I think it's very important that our partners do not actually care or seriously treat what Russia is saying because Russians are lying. They are just inventing disinformation, they are inventing new reality and they are trying to sell this new reality to our partners. Their official statements may be that they want peace, that they are attacking only military facilities, but their reality on the ground is absolutely different. They are attacking playgrounds, as we have seen in Kryvy Rih. They are attacking the city centre in Sumy during the Palm Sunday when people were going to the church. They are attacking residential houses, private and multi-story buildings. Russia killed three siblings in the village of the Zhytomyr region. Three kids, school kids, they were killed because of the Russian attack. [Russia's] policy is absolutely full-scale terrorism. They want to make all Ukrainians feel unsafe and they hope to get the pressure from the Ukrainian society over Zelensky to capitulate. But they do not understand that by unleashing this horrible terrorism at Ukrainians, they are actually achieving the opposite. The resistance is growing, the anger is growing, and the readiness to resist even harder is also growing. [With] the latest online comments by the U.S. president, Donald Trump, saying Putin has quote, "Gone absolutely crazy," how does that sit with you? What do you make of that? I am used to judge by the actions because over the last couple of months, when the U.S. started to mediate the peace talks, we've seen a lot of different mixed statements. But we've also seen the basically lack of actions, lack of any pressure on Russia as an aggressor. So much could have been done over the last couple of weeks in order to force Russia into the real peace talks. For example, maximum military aid for Ukraine, really toughening the sanctions — confiscation of Russian assets, 300 billion of the central bank assets that are frozen in G7 jurisdictions. Canada can be very helpful for us with pursuing this goal because both parties during the elections supported the seizure of the central bank assets, and Canada presently leads G7, they have the power to mobilize European countries — maybe even the U.S will join when we will have consensus. Carney is super positioned to make this his legacy. The actions [are] what matters because statements or concern or words they cannot intercept the missiles that are targeting residential areas within Kyiv or Zhytomyr or Dnipro or any other region. But real action like confiscation of the frozen Russian assets and maximum military aid for Ukraine can. Do you think … we're now at a point where it's testing Trump's patience and it might push him to do more than he has? We would, of course, hope very much. We would hope very much that President Trump would finally see the real nature of Putin and finally start implementing his own principle — peace through strength. But this strength should be pressure over the aggressor, not pressure over the victim. But still, I'm afraid that there might be the outcome where President Trump would say that he tried, it didn't work, this is not his war, and he might simply … withdraw from the talks, from this war. I think that this is actually what Russians are betting for. They want Trump to be tired of all of those processes, and they want him to simply refocus on other issues. Can you imagine a point where the peace process is actually unfolding and working and that you won't have to go to bed every night worrying about sirens and waking up to explosions? Unfortunately, at this point, Russians feel appeased, when they are seeing that they can demand much more concessions and that they can break the unity of the Western democracies. Putin is betting [on] the decline of the global solidarity and the support of democracies towards Ukraine. He thinks that he can outlast the West and Ukraine in the long-term perspective. That's why for us, it is so important to have things like confiscation of the Russian assets, which can be game changers, which can be long-term sustainable sources of support for Ukraine without the links to domestic political agenda or turbulence.
RNZ News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Russia launches largest air attack on Ukraine
Russia has carried out the largest air attack on Ukraine since the start of the war. Hundreds of missiles and drones were fired, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more. The BBC's James Waterhouse spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
The Sun
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Nato scrambles fighter jets as Putin launches 2nd night of massive strikes on Kyiv with 367 missiles & drones killing 7
NATO fighter jets were scrambled after Russia launched a massive air attack on Ukraine for a second consecutive night - killing at least seven people. Dozens of people were injured, including three children, after the Russian forces launched 367 missiles and drones in a massive air raid targeting multiple Ukrainian cities. 4 4 4 4 The attack took place on the third day of a planned prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine - an outcome of last week's peace talks in Istanbul. Footage showed emergency responders trying to extinguish fires as smoke billowed from cars and houses. At least four people were killed in Kyiv with another 26 wounded -including at least three children. In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17, according to the emergency service. Polish military high command said it had deployed "all available forces and resources' on Nato's eastern flank. It added: 'On-duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and the ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness. 'The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.' The attacks over the past 48 hours were among the most intense Russian aerial strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 full-scale invasion. Yesterday, the Russian forces launched a massive air assault on Kyiv with 250 drones and 14 Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Apartment blocks were set ablaze by the barrage as residents in the Ukrainian capital fled to underground shelters amid the sound of anti-aircraft fire. Explosions rocked the city during a seven hour raid as fireballs lit up the skyline long into the early hours. Six of the warheads and 245 drones were shot out of the sky as debris rained down. In response, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "Unfortunately, the Russians show no signals of a ceasefire." Tymur Tkachenko, acting head of Kyiv's military administration, said missile and drone debris hit at least four districts in the capital, sparking fires and damaging homes. It came just hours after the biggest prisoner of war swap since the start of the war saw hundreds returned home. Hundreds more followed yesterday as part of a deal that will see 1,000 released by both sides. Zelensky said 307 Ukrainian troops were brought home on Saturday, a day after 390 were freed in an earlier phase of the exchange. Russia's defence ministry confirmed the same number of prisoners returned to its side. On his Telegram channel, Zelensky added: 'We expect more to come tomorrow.' The deal was struck earlier this month during the first face-to-face talks between Kyiv and Moscow since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. The meeting, held in Istanbul, laid out plans for a 1,000-person swap. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no agreement on where the next round of talks would take place. European leaders including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts. Military analysts believe he is trying to press home his advantage and capture more Ukrainian land. Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said a draft document with Moscow's proposed peace terms would be shared once the prisoner exchange was complete. US President Donald Trump claimed the latest exchange could be the 'first step' toward ending the war – revealing he spoke with Putin for two hours earlier this week. He wrote on Truth Social: 'This could lead to something big???' Putin described the call as 'very productive' and said Russia was 'ready to work with the Ukrainian side' – but insisted any deal must include compromises from both nations.
LBCI
10-05-2025
- Climate
- LBCI
US embassy in Kyiv warns of 'potentially significant' air attack
The U.S. embassy in Kyiv warned on Friday of a "potentially significant" air attack in the coming days. "The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has received information concerning a potentially significant air attack that may occur at any time over the next several days," the embassy said on its website. "The Embassy, as always, recommends U.S. citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced." Reuters
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US embassy in Kyiv warns of potential mass attack amid Putin's Victory Day 'truce'
The United States embassy in Kyiv on May 9 issued a warning that Russia could launch "a potentially significant" attack in the coming days and urged U.S. citizens to prepare to take shelter immediately in the event of an aerial alert. The warning comes amid Russian President Vladimir Putin's self-declared "Victory Day truce," a ceasefire the Kremlin claimed would last from midnight on May 8 to midnight on May 11 in honor of Russia's May 9 celebrations. "The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has received information concerning a potentially significant air attack that may occur at any time over the next several days," the embassy announced on its website. "The Embassy, as always, recommends U.S. citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced." The embassy has previously issued similar warnings as part of its standard security protocols. While the temporary ceasefire has ostensibly already begun, Russia has continued to launch deadly attacks against civilians in Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has also reported that combat operations on the front lines have not stopped. Similarly, Moscow's unilateral "Easter truce" was a ceasefire in name only, as Russia violated its own terms thousands of times. President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Putin's latest ceasefire declaration as a "theatrical performance" and reiterated calls for a full, unconditional truce. U.S. President Donald Trump on May 8 called for a "30-day unconditional ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia — a proposal Kyiv first assented to back in March. Moscow has repeatedly refused these terms, insisting Ukraine halt all military aid before agreeing to a full ceasefire. The U.S. and European allies are in the final stages of developing a proposal for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, Reuters reported on May 9. Read also: 'The enemy is right here' — how Ukrainians living under Russian occupation defied Putin's 'Victory Day' We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
