Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow launches largest missile and drone attack on Ukraine since start of war
Russia has launched its biggest aerial attack on Ukraine of the war so far as president Volodymyr Zelensky has once again called for more pressure on Putin.
Some 477 drones were launched with 60 missiles of various types across Ukraine, where air raid alerts sounded all night long, the president said, as he accused Russia of 'targeting everything that sustains life.'
A child was injured as a residential building in Smila, central Ukraine, was struck and Zelensky mourned an F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, who died after destroying seven aerial targets. An investigation has been launched into the circumstances of his death.
' Moscow will not stop as long as it has the capability to launch massive strikes. Just this week alone, there have been more than 114 missiles, over 1,270 drones, and nearly 1,100 glide bombs,' Zelensky said in his statement.
'Putin long ago decided he would keep waging war, despite the world's calls for peace. This war must be brought to an end — pressure on the aggressor is needed, and so is protection. Protection from ballistic and other missiles, from drones, and from terror.'
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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Ukrainian PoW with ‘Glory to Russia' BURNED on skin says sick ‘Calling Putin' torture method left him begging for death
A UKRAINIAN prisoner of war who had the words "Glory to Russia" burnt on his skin said he was left begging for death. Following his release in a prisoner swap earlier this year, Andriy Pereverzev has revealed disturbing details of his time in captivity, including sick torture method "Calling Putin". 7 7 The Ukrainian POW was captured in February 2024 on the battlefield after being severely wounded. Despite his pleas to just "end it" and "finish" him off, Pereverzev was carried to an encampment where he was brutally tortured. Speaking for the first time about his experience, Pereverzev told how he was mercilessly electrocuted by Vlad's troops seeking intelligence. He said: "While they were carrying me. I kept asking them, 'Finish me off. Just end it, but they didn't. "They used electric shocks on my open wounds a couple of times, and I started blacking out again. 'They stripped me, checked my wounds…..My buttock was shredded. 'Three hits to the head with a filled five litre plastic bottle. My hands were tied, my eyes were covered. That was their welcome. I fell, blacked out. 'They used electric shocks on my open wounds a couple of times, and I started blacking out again. "The guards came in and asked us to recite the Russian national anthem. 'Those who didn't know it were beaten until they couldn't get up.' I was stabbed and electrocuted by Russian Soldiers As well as being horrifically beaten, the POW described how he had the words "Glory to Russia" burned on his skin whilst in captivity. A disturbing photo emerged earlier this month showing the mutilated soldier. The phrase, written in Russian, has been branded sideways onto his right flank in large, uneven letters. Up the middle of the tortured soldier's torso is another thick, livid scar ragged by rough stick marks. He also has a tube fitted into his stomach, and another area of major scarring on his left flank. Referring to the moment he woke up in hospital after the grim procedure he recalled: '[A Russian nurse told me] Don't worry, when you get home you can remove it or get a tattoo over it. 'I had no idea what she was talking about. Absolutely none.' A week later, when his dressing was being changed by two Russian guards, he said he "gasped" when he saw his stomach for the first time. He said: 'I lifted my head just to look at my stomach and there it was 'Glory to Russia' burnt into my skin with a medical cautery tool. The surgeon did this to me.' When asked how he reacted to the gruesome discovery, Pereverzev told Kyiv-based project UNITED24: 'I said, you're all bastards. I'll shoot every one of you.' He was later beaten up, with one soldier "poking" his wounds with his finger. 7 7 "It hurt like hell," he said. Pereverzev also described another occasion when he was brutally tortured during an interrogation. He recalled: 'One guy was sitting at a table typing on a laptop while the other one was torturing me. 'He kept hitting me on the ears, punching the back of my head using a stun gun on me. 'They asked me where my wound was. I pointed to my leg. 'They ripped off the bandage and started electrocuting me right there directly into the wound. That went on for about 40 minutes.' Following his release, the Ukrainian POW also told how prisoners would often get wired to an old Soviet phone and their bodies surged with electricity. The sick torture tactic - dubbed "Calling Putin" -- has been known to inflict 80-volt electric shocks into the genitals of captives. He said: 'It's basically a regular old phone. Two wires are connected to it like clamps, and they can attach them to any part of your body. 'Then they crank the phone handle, lift the receiver, and there is this old Soviet style rotary dial on it. 'The higher the number, you dial from 0 to 9, the stronger the electric current. 'And with each number, the power increases a lot.' Last year there were reports of "Calling Putin" torture used on suspects in the Crucus City Hall massacre in which 145 died and 551 were wounded. In this case, Russian interrogators used a TA-57 military telephone attached to the suspect's genitals. When he finally returned home, Pereverzev said he had lost 35lbs and his nine-year-old daughter didn't recognise him. "I promised her then that no matter what condition I'd be in. Even without arms, without legs, I'd still come back," he said. 7 7
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Prisoner of war branded with words ‘Glory to Russia' shares horror ordeal
Ukrainian soldier Andriy Pereverzev said his Russian torturers used a technique they referred to as "Calling Putin" which involved them taking wires from Soviet-era phones and using them to electrocute their prisoners A Ukrainian former prisoner of war has spoken for the first time after Kremlin soldiers branded him with the words "Glory to Russia" on his abdomen. Andriy Pereverzev recalled another barbaric torture method - named 'Calling Putin' - when wires from an old Soviet phone are attached to a victim with an electric current surged through the POW's body. It's believed this could inflict an 80-volt electric shock into the genitals of captives. Andriy said he was captured in February 2024 on the battlefield after being severely wounded. Once in the custody of Putin's fighters, it didn't take long before they turned to torture - electrocuting him in his open wound, seeking to extract any useful intelligence. Andriy has identified himself after his vile branding story was revealed earlier this month following his return home in a prisoner swap, but now he has revealed further horrific details of torture routinely carried out by Putin's troops. He was in hospital after surgery and a Russian nurse said to him: 'Don't worry, when you get home you can remove it or get a tattoo over it.' He said: 'I had no idea what she was talking about. Absolutely none.' A week later when his dressing was being changed by two Russian guards, he 'finally managed to gather enough strength to lift my head off the pillow, just to see what was going on with my stomach.' He strained to examine his midriff - and 'gasped'. 'I lifted my head just to look at my stomach,' he said.'And there it was. 'Glory to Russia.' Burned into my skin with a medical cautery tool. The surgeon did this to me.' Asked what he said, Andriy told Kyiv-based project UNITED24: 'I said, you're all bastards. I'll shoot every one of you.' In response, they 'beat me up'. While changing the bandages 'one of them started poking me in my wounds with his fingers. It hurt like hell.' On another occasion, he was interrogated by suspected FSB agents in balaclavas. 'One guy was sitting at a table typing on a laptop while the other one was torturing me," he said. "He kept hitting me on the ears, punching the back of my head using a stun gun on me. They asked me where my wound was. I pointed to my leg. They ripped off the bandage and started electrocuting me right there directly into the wound. That went on for about 40 minutes.' He revealed another form of torture suffered by his comrades, but not him. 'It's basically a regular old phone,' he said. "Two wires are connected to it like clamps, and they can attach them to any part of your body. Then they crank the phone handle, lift the receiver, and there is this old Soviet style rotary dial on it. 'The higher the number, you dial from 0 to 9, the stronger the electric current. And with each number, the power increases a lot." Last year there were reports of 'Calling Putin' torture used on suspects in the Crucus City Hall massacre in which 145 died and 551 were wounded. In this case, Russian interrogators used a TA-57 military telephone attached to the suspect's genitals. Andriy told how he had been severely wounded when he fell into Russian hands. 'While they were carrying me. I kept asking them, 'Finish me off',' he said. "Just end it, but they didn't….'' They used electric shocks on my open wounds a couple of times, and I started blacking out again.' He said: 'They stripped me, checked my wounds…..My buttock was shredded.' The torture started as soon as he was captured. 'Three hits to the head with a filled five litre plastic bottle. My hands were tied, my eyes were covered. That was their welcome. I fell, blacked out….," he said. 'They used electric shocks on my open wounds a couple of times, and I started blacking out again.' In yet another war crime, he told how 'the guards came in and asked us to recite the Russian national anthem. 'Those who didn't know it were beaten until they couldn't get up.' When he finally got back home, he had lost 35lbs after time in hellhole Russian hospitals and prisons. His daughter, nine, 'didn't recognise me, but I recognised her right away". He continued: "When he went to war in I promised her then that no matter what condition I'd be in. Even without arms, without legs, I'd still come back."
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Germany to help Ukraine make more weapons to strengthen hand in peace talks
Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly as Kyiv looks to strengthen its negotiating position in peace talks with Russia about ending their more than three-year war, the top German diplomat said. 'We see our task as helping Ukraine so that it can negotiate more strongly,' foreign minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Monday accompanied by German defence industry representatives. Advertisement US-led international peace efforts have failed to make progress on halting the fighting. Our institutions are working on the synchronization of European and Ukrainian sanctions. We are also fully aligning the European sanctions package targeting the regime in Iran, which includes numerous individuals, companies, and entities not only involved in military production… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 29, 2025 Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected a ceasefire and has not budged from his war goals. 'When Putin speaks of peace today, it is pure mockery,' Mr Wadephul told a news conference with Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha. 'His apparent readiness to negotiate is only a facade so far.' Advertisement Russia's invasion shows no sign of letting up. Its grinding war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line and long-range strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine have killed thousands of troops and civilians. Ukraine is outgunned and short-handed on the front line and international aid has been vital for Ukraine's resistance against its neighbour's bigger army and economy. Germany has been Ukraine's second-largest military backer after the United States, whose continuing support is in doubt. Advertisement 'We want to build new joint ventures so that Ukraine itself can produce faster and more for its own defence, because your needs are enormous,' Mr Wadephul said while standing next to Mr Sybiha. German foreign minister Johann Wadephul, left, and Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha talk during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) 'Our arms cooperation is a real trump card — it is a logical continuation of our delivery of material,' Mr Wadephul said. 'And we can even benefit mutually from it — with your wealth of ideas and your experience, we will become better.' Mr Wadephul was also due to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Advertisement The top German diplomat's trip to Kyiv came less than 48 hours after Russia launched its biggest combined aerial attack against Ukraine over the weekend, Ukrainian officials said, in an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in peace efforts. Ukraine's air force said on Monday it detected 107 Russian Shahed and decoy drones in the country's air space overnight. Strikes in Ukraine's north-eastern Kharkiv region left two civilians dead and eight injured, including a six-year-old child, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Monday. The aerial onslaughts are calculated by Russia to squeeze Ukraine into submission, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Advertisement 'Russia is continuing to use increasingly large numbers of drones in its overnight strike packages in order to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences and enable subsequent cruise and ballistic missile strikes,' the Washington-based think tank said late on Sunday. German foreign minister Johann Wadephul, left, and Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha stand at the entrance of St Michael Monastery in Kyiv (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) 'The increases in Russia's strike packages in recent weeks are largely due to Russia's efforts to scale up its defence industrial production, particularly of Shahed and decoy drones and ballistic missiles,' the institute added. Mr Sybiha thanked Germany for its contribution to Ukraine's air defence and urged Berlin to send more anti-missile systems. The Russians 'are attacking civilian targets in order to create panic, to influence the mood of our population', he said. 'The key is the air defence system.' Berlin has balked at granting Mr Zelensky's request to provide Ukraine with powerful German and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles, which could potentially hit targets inside Russia. That is due to fears such a move could enrage the Kremlin and draw Nato into Europe's biggest conflict since the Second World War. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged in May to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets.
