How Old-School Tech Is Rewiring Drone Warfare in Ukraine
Through its camera, the Ukrainian pilot saw a sleeping Russian soldier wrapped in a red blanket, apparently oblivious to the deadly machine buzzing beside him.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Deadly new Russian drone and missile attack hits Kyiv
A massive overnight Russian attack has hit Ukraine's capital Kyiv, killing at least two people and injuring 16, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The attack involved 18 missiles and about 400 drones, primarily targeting the capital, Zelensky added. Authorities in Kyiv said drone wreckage hit the roof of a residential building in the central Shevchenkivskyi district and fires burned across the city. Residents' sleep was interrupted for three hours as drones and missiles converged on the capital, air defences went into action and explosions reverberated. Footage on social media, not yet verified by the BBC, showed blasts in the night sky. It followed what Ukraine described as the largest Russian aerial attack on Tuesday night, when 728 drones and 13 cruise or ballistic missiles struck cities across the country. In the early hours of Thursday morning, Ukraine's police reported that Russian drone strikes had hit eight districts in Kyiv. "Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouses, office and non-residential buildings are burning," administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko confirmed that a 68-year-old woman and a 22-year-old police officer at a metro station had been killed. In Kyiv's Podilsky district, a primary healthcare centre was "almost completely destroyed", Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said. City residents were urged to shelter until the air raid siren was lifted, and also close windows when they returned to their homes because there was a "lot of smoke" in Kyiv. Overnight, Ukraine's air force reported a threat of Russian drone attacks in a number of regions. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties outside Kyiv. Russia's military has not commented on the reported latest attack. In other developments: Ukraine's emergency service DSNS said late on Wednesday that three people had been killed in a Russian air strike in the town of Kostiantynivka - close to the front line in eastern Ukraine The US resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, Reuters reported late on Wednesday, days after it halted shipments of some critical air defence arms "Russia is obviously stepping up terror," Zelensky said. "It is necessary to be faster with sanctions and pressure Russia so that it feels the outcomes of its own terror. Our partners need to act faster investing in weapons production and developing tech." He said that on Thursday, he would be speaking to partners about additional financing for producing interceptor drones and air defence supplies. The latest attack underlines just how remote the prospects of a diplomatic breakthrough seem to have become. On Wednesday, Germany's Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said diplomacy had been exhausted. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, spoke in similar terms earlier in the week. And US President Donald Trump seems increasingly impatient with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. "We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. "He's very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." Peskov said Moscow was "pretty calm about this. Trump's way of talking is generally quite harsh, the phrases he uses". The two leaders have been in regular contact, but this has so far failed to translate into tangible steps towards a ceasefire in Ukraine - something Trump once said he would be able to achieve in a day. Trump has been threatening sanctions on Russia since taking office in January but has so far not imposed any. A bipartisan bill is working its way through Congress which would penalise countries such as China and India that continue to buy Russian oil and gas. Trump said he might support it. The focus among Kyiv's allies has now shifted back to how to protect Ukraine and punish Russia, with Europe working on a new package of sanctions. All this is likely to be discussed in Rome, where a two-day conference attended by delegates from 77 countries on Ukraine's recovery is due to start on Thursday. With Russia's drone attacks on Ukraine increasing in frequency and scale, renewed attention on how to protect Ukraine's airspace could also be on the agenda. Later on Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a summit in Malaysia. Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's summer push in Ukraine targets three fronts but faces stern resistance Steve Rosenberg: Moscow shrugs off Trump's irritation with Putin Why did Putin's Russia invade Ukraine?
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Top Ukrainian spy shot dead with silenced pistol in Kyiv
A senior Ukrainian spy has been shot dead by an assassin using a silenced pistol on the streets of Kyiv. Col Ivan Voronich, a senior operational officer in Ukraine's security service, was crossing the street near a block of flats in the capital's Holosiivskyi district when he was approached by a man with a gun on Thursday morning. Footage shared on Telegram showed the moment Col Voronich was shot five times next to a row of parked cars. Following the attack, a man can be seen running along the street in the opposite direction while stuffing a gun into his shorts. Roman Chervinsky, a former Ukrainian intelligence officer, said Col Voronich was killed as he left his apartment at 8am local time on Thursday. 'With five shots at close range while leaving the apartment today at 8am, the enemy killer did his dirty work,' Mr Chervinsky said. He added that Col Voronich had been 'fighting the enemy since 2014'. The senior security service officer died at the scene, according to Ihar Mosiychuk, a former Ukrainian MP, who blamed Russian special services for the attack. Col Voronich was reportedly the head of the 1st division of the 16th department in Ukraine's security service, which focuses on high-level operations including counter-terrorism, special operations and security missions. However, both sides of the Ukraine-Russia conflict have carried out assassinations since the full-scale war began in February 2022. A high-ranking Russian general and his assistant were killed in Moscow by Ukraine's security service last December. Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, the head of Moscow's radiation, biological and chemical defence forces, was outside a residential block when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely. Another senior Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow earlier this year. Gen Yaroslav Moskalik died when a Volkswagen Golf exploded after an improvised device stuffed with pellets went off in April. Russia's federal security service claimed to have killed a Ukrainian spy allegedly plotting to assassinate a defence industry executive in September 2024. Moscow has stepped up attacks on civilians in recent months, regularly targeting major cities such as Kyiv and Dnipro. Russian forces fired a total of 741 missiles and drones on Tuesday night, breaking the record for the number of projectiles launched that had been set only the Friday before. On Wednesday night, Russia fired 400 drones and 18 missiles in a nearly 10-hour attack, killing two people in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky said. The Ukrainian president added that the attack showed the need for further sanctions against the Kremlin. 'This demands that we speed things up. Sanctions must be imposed faster, and pressure on Russia must be strong enough that they truly feel the consequences of their terror,' he said. Mr Zelensky will visit Rome on Thursday to speak with Ukraine's allies about additional financing for drone interceptors and air defence systems.
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
European court finds Russia downed MH17, committed rights violations in Ukraine
Europe's human rights court on Wednesday unanimously found Russia responsible for downing Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and for 'widespread and flagrant abuses of human rights' in Ukraine from 2014 onward, including summary executions and the transfer of children to Russia. The European Court of Human Rights said Russia's pattern of human rights violations also included indiscriminate military attacks; torture, notably rape as a weapon of war; and the intimidation and persecution of journalists and religious groups.
