Ukraine-Russia war latest: Blasts in Kyiv as Putin launches deadly assault with over 700 drones and missiles

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russian attacks overnight hit ordinary civilian buildings as Vladimir Putin’s troops fired not just drones but aeroballistic, cruise and ballistic missiles.

“A rescue operation is currently underway in Kyiv at the site of a Russian drone strike on a nine-story residential building – an entire section of the building has been completely destroyed. Dozens of people have been rescued. Tragically, one person has been killed,” he said on X this morning.

He said the Russians launched more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles against Ukraine.

“Ballistic, aeroballistic, and cruise missiles were used in the strikes. The main target of this attack was Kyiv. There is damage at twenty locations across the city – ordinary residential buildings, a school, a veterinary clinic, and other purely civilian infrastructure,” he said.

He added that energy infrastructure was also hit alongside port and residential areas.

“In total, since midnight yesterday, Russia has used more than 1,560 drones against our cities and communities. These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end,” he said, referring to Putin’s recent comments.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption ⁠court on Thursday ordered the arrest of Andriy Yermak, a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky and former head of his administration, on money-laundering charges.

The court also set bail at 140 million hryvnias ($3.19 million), which would allow Yermak, ⁠who has denied the allegations against him, ​to ⁠be released pending a final ruling in his case.

“I don’t have that kind of money, and my lawyer will ⁠now work with friends and acquaintances (to raise the money for bail),” Yermak ​told ⁠reporters after the court’s decision.

“My ‌legal team will file an appeal. We will use every legal avenue to seek justice and the truth.”

Ukrainian authorities on Monday ‌named Yermak as a suspect in a major ‌corruption probe. His arrest was the closest that anti-corruption officials have come to the president’s inner circle.

Russia launched at least 675 drones and 56 missiles at Ukraine in a massive overnight attack, Ukraine’s Air Force said this morning.

Ukraine said its air ‌defences had ‌downed 652 drones and ⁠41 missiles, and that 38 hits had been recorded across ‌24 locations. Damage ​from ‌debris was ⁠reported ⁠at another 18 locations.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has tied the overnight attack to Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, saying Russia’s assault proved it posed a threat to international security.

“At the very time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in Beijing, and the world hopes for peace, predictability and cooperation, [Vladimir] Putin launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of Ukraine,” Sybiha said on Telegram.

He said there should be “no illusions” about ending the war.

“Only pressure on Moscow can make him stop,” Sybiha said of Putin, adding that US and Chinese leaders had sufficient leverage to compel Russia to end the war.

Neither Putin or Trump have provided details about what has changed to make a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine conflict possible.

Poland said its air force intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over international waters in ⁠the Baltic Sea, calling the Russian flight a provocation and potential threat.

“The machine was flying in international airspace without a filed flight plan and with transponders turned off. There was no violation of Polish airspace,” the Polish army said in a social media post. Defence ​minister ⁠Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said ‌flights without transponders on could pose a threat to other aircraft and that its ‌pilots would always respond ‌immediately.

“Our aircraft intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft over international waters in the Baltic Sea. This is another aggressive action by the Russian Federation and a test of our air defense systems,” he wrote on X.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Polish army said it had undertaken military aviation operations ‌in Polish airspace as a preventative measure ​due to Russian strikes ‌on Ukraine.

“Ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems that were activated have returned to standard operational activities,” the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces wrote on X.

Russia has test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to modernise the country’s nuclear forces, a launch hailed by president Vladimir Putin just days after his claim that the fighting in Ukraine is nearing an end.

Putin said that the nuclear-armed Sarmat missile would enter combat service at the end of the year. It was built to replace the aging Soviet-built Voyevoda.

“This is the most powerful missile in the world,” Putin declared, adding that the combined power of the Sarmat’s individually targeted warheads is more than four times higher than that of any Western counterpart. These claims could not be independently verified.

The Russian leader has repeatedly brandished the nuclear sword after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine.

Russia’s overnight ⁠air strikes on Ukraine ⁠targeted ​civilian ⁠infrastructure ⁠including ​ports ⁠in ‌the southern Odesa ‌region and ‌railways, ⁠deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said ‌this morning.

Officials in Kyiv say an overnight Russian air raid on the capital has killed at least one person and injured 16.

Damage was recorded across six districts of Kyiv, according to head of Kyiv’s military administration Tymur Tkachenko. He warned Russia was attacking the capital with ballistic missiles and drones.

Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure was damaged.In the Darnytsia district, a multistory residential building partially collapsed splitting the structure in half and burying people under the rubble.

At least 10 people were rescued from the rubble, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.

At the scene, emergency workers searched for survivors as smoke from the attack continued to smolder beneath the pile of rubble.

Resident Lyudmila Hlushko, 78, said she heard a lot of explosions and the sound of rockets flying around 3am.

“Then the house shook violently and there was a loud bang, breaking the glass in my house,” she said.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russian attacks overnight hit ordinary civilian buildings as Vladimir Putin’s troops fired not just drones but aeroballistic, cruise and ballistic missiles.

“A rescue operation is currently underway in Kyiv at the site of a Russian drone strike on a nine-story residential building – an entire section of the building has been completely destroyed. Dozens of people have been rescued. Tragically, one person has been killed,” he said on X this morning.

He said the Russians launched more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles against Ukraine.

“Ballistic, aeroballistic, and cruise missiles were used in the strikes. The main target of this attack was Kyiv. There is damage at twenty locations across the city – ordinary residential buildings, a school, a veterinary clinic, and other purely civilian infrastructure,” he said.

He added that energy infrastructure was also hit alongside port and residential areas.

“In total, since midnight yesterday, Russia has used more than 1,560 drones against our cities and communities. These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end,” he said, referring to Putin’s recent comments.