Russia's ferocious aerial assault on Ukraine continues for second night, targeting Kyiv
Video filmed by CNN staff showed massive, fiery explosions in Kyiv. Visibility in the city center was limited and a strong smell of smoke filled the air in the immediate aftermath.
Early reports said at least 11 people had been wounded in Thursday's attacks, which involved a large number of drones and cruise missiles, according to Kyiv authorities.
The offensive comes one night after Russia conducted its largest drone assault since the start of its full-scale invasion, launching 728 drones and 13 missiles in strikes that killed at least one person, according to Ukrainian officials.
The damage on Thursday morning appeared to be substantial. Residential buildings, cars, warehouse facilities, offices and other buildings were on fire across the city, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said.
Tkachenko urged residents to stay in shelters and avoid windows and balconies, as Ukraine's air defense systems worked to repel the attack.
'Property can be restored, but human life cannot,' Tkachenko said.
Russia has significantly scaled up its air attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, launching near-nightly assaults involving hundreds of drones and missiles.
Work towards a peace deal has simultaneously slowed down, triggering frustration in the White House, where US President Trump on Tuesday took aim at Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.
'We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,' Trump said in a Cabinet meeting. 'He's very nice all of the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.'
Russia's sustained assault in recent days has injected new urgency into questions surrounding Washington's commitment to defending Ukraine, as the Trump administration pledged to send additional defensive weaponry to Kyiv in an apparent policy reversion.
Moscow downplayed Trump's harsh words in a press briefing Wednesday. A Kremlin spokesperson said it is reacting 'calmly' to Trump's criticism of Putin. 'Trump in general tends to use a fairly tough style and expressions,' Dmitry Peskov said, adding Moscow hopes to continue dialogue with Washington.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia on Thursday.
Following Wednesday's record drone attack, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said there had been 'so many attempts to achieve peace and cease fire, but Russia rejects everything.'
Thursday's attack on Kyiv follows a landmark ruling by Europe's top human rights court Wednesday, which found that Russia committed major international law violations in Ukraine.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on four cases concerning Russian military operations in Ukraine since 2022, as well as the conflict in eastern Ukraine which began in 2014 and includes the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
It found that Russia had committed a pattern of human rights violations in Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The ECHR also ruled Russia was responsible for the downing of flight MH17 in 2014. Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility for MH17's destruction, which killed 298 people.
CNN's Anna Chernova and Sophie Tanno contributed reporting.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
23 minutes ago
- CNN
Putin says Russia's hypersonic missile has entered service and will be deployed in Belarus
President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia has started production of its newest hypersonic missiles and reaffirmed its plans to deploy them to ally Belarus later this year. Sitting alongside Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Valaam Island near St. Petersburg, Putin said the military already has selected deployment sites in Belarus for the Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile. 'Preparatory work is ongoing, and most likely we will be done with it before the year's end,' Putin said, adding that the first series of Oreshniks and their systems have been produced and entered military service. Russia first used the Oreshnik, which is Russian for 'hazelnut tree,' against Ukraine in November, when it fired the experimental weapon at a factory in Dnipro that built missiles when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Putin has praised the Oreshnik's capabilities, saying its multiple warheads that plunge to a target at speeds up to Mach 10 are immune to being intercepted and are so powerful that the use of several of them in one conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack. He warned the West that Moscow could use it against Ukraine's NATO allies who allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia. Russia's missile forces chief has declared that Oreshnik, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, has a range allowing it to reach all of Europe. Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such weapons were banned under a Soviet-era treaty that Washington and Moscow abandoned in 2019. Last fall, Putin and Lukashenko signed a treaty giving Moscow's security guarantees to Belarus, including the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons to help repel any aggression. The pact follows the Kremlin's revision of its nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella amid tensions with the West over the conflict in Ukraine. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for over 30 years and has relied on Kremlin subsidies and support, allowed Russia to use his country's territory to send troops into Ukraine in 2022 and to host some of its tactical nuclear weapons. Russia hasn't disclosed how many such weapons were deployed, but Lukashenko said in December that his country currently has several dozen. The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which has a 1,084-kilometer (673-mile) border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It also extends Russia's capability to target several NATO allies in Eastern and Central Europe. The revamped nuclear doctrine that Putin signed last fall formally lowered the threshold for Russia's use of its nuclear weapons. The document says Moscow could use nuclear weapons 'in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction' against Russia or its allies, as well as 'in the event of aggression' against Russia and Belarus with conventional weapons that threaten 'their sovereignty and/or territorial integrity.'
News24
24 minutes ago
- News24
Australia spy boss warns Russia, China, Iran as espionage threats ‘trying to steal our secrets'
Australia's spy chief has singled out Russia as an 'aggressive espionage threat', saying several Moscow-linked intelligence officers have been caught and expelled in recent years. Intelligence boss Mike Burgess used a speech on Thursday night to warn of the mounting threat posed by foreign actors such as Russia and China. Burgess said 24 major espionage operations had been dismantled since 2022 - more than the previous eight years combined. 'A new iteration of great power competition is driving a relentless hunger for strategic advantage and an insatiable appetite for inside information,' he said. 'Russia remains a persistent and aggressive espionage threat,' added Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Without providing details, Burgess said a number of Russian spies had been expelled from Australia in recent years. He also mentioned China and Iran as nations actively trying to pilfer classified information. He said: You would be genuinely shocked by the number and names of countries trying to steal our secrets. Repeating a warning sounded earlier this year, Burgess said foreign actors were targeting Australia's fledgling nuclear-powered submarine programme. Australia plans to deploy stealthy nuclear-powered submarines in a pact with the United States and Britain known as AUKUS. 'In particular, we are seeing foreign intelligence services taking a very unhealthy interest in AUKUS and its associated capabilities,' said Burgess. Australian police in 2024 charged a married Russian-born couple with spying for Moscow. The couple - accused of trying to steal military secrets - had lived in Australia for more than 10 years. Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Ukraine's domestic security agency detained an air force officer on charges of having spied for Russia by leaking the location of prized F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets, officials said. The unidentified officer, a flight instructor holding the rank of major, stands accused of helping Russia carry out air strikes by providing coordinates and suggesting strike tactics, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement. 'In particular, the enemy's priority targets were airfields where F-16s, Mirage 2000s and Su-24s were based,' it said. F-16s are US-made and Mirages are French while the Su-24 is an older, Soviet-manufactured jet bomber. 'The agent collected the coordinates of the location of these aircraft, schedules and ... the order of their departure.' The SBU also detained two Chinese nationals on suspicion of spying on Ukraine's Neptune anti-ship missile programme, a key part of Kyiv's growing domestic arms industry.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Zelenskyy urges direct talks with Putin as Trump sets peace deadline
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put out a statement praising President Donald Trump's efforts to broker peace and calling for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We see and support President Trump's efforts to end Russia's war, to stop the killing, and to achieve a dignified and lasting peace. We are grateful to everyone around the world who supports peace efforts and helps us protect lives," Zelenskyy wrote on X. "We understand who makes the decisions in Russia and who must end this war. The whole world understands this too. Ukraine calls for moving beyond the exchange of statements and technical-level meetings to talks between leaders. The United States has proposed this. Ukraine has supported it. What is needed is Russia's readiness," the Ukrainian leader added. Trump also announced on Friday that he was repositioning two nuclear submarines after a "highly provocative" conversation with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "Based on the highly provocative statements of the former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences. I hope this will not be one of those instances," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Zelenskyy's message comes as Putin has just one week to meet Trump's deadline for ending the three-and-a-half-year war. Acting U.S. Representative John Kelley announced the deadline at a United Nations Security Council briefing on "Threats to International Peace and Security." Trump, who has consistently voiced his desire to end the war, recently said Russia's actions against Ukraine were "disgusting." "Both Russia and Ukraine must negotiate a ceasefire and durable peace. It is time to make a deal. President Trump has made clear this must be done by August 8. The United States is prepared to implement additional measures to secure peace," Kelley said. Kelley reiterated the U.S.'s support of Ukraine's right to defend itself in the face of Russian attacks. "Our support for Ukraine's defense cannot be compared to the supply of arms and material to Russia, which enables Russia to continue its full-scale invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory," Kelley said. "Last week, we called on all UN Member States to help bring the war to an end by ceasing any and all support to Russia's war efforts. We do so again today." The American diplomat explicitly named North Korea, China, and Iran as countries that have helped Russia both directly and indirectly. He said that while Beijing has not directly provided Moscow with weapons, it has acted as a "decisive enabler" by "being the most important supplier of Russia's war industrial machine." It seems unlikely that Russia would come to the negotiating table as it carried out a deadly airstrike against Kyiv and its representatives at the U.N. appeared to double down on Moscow's desire to retake Ukraine. "We are not seeking to destroy [Ukraine], its culture or its identity. We would like Ukrainian [and] Russian cultures coexist in this country, as it used to be for decades without any problems or conflicts," Russia's Mission to the U.N. wrote on X. In the early hours of Thursday, Russia launched more than 300 drones and eight missiles that hit residential areas in Kyiv. On Friday, Ukraine mourned after 31 were killed in the strike, which was the deadliest air attack carried out by Moscow this year. The death toll includes five children, one of whom was just two years old, according to Reuters. Additionally, more than 150 people were wounded, including 16 children.
