Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russia launches largest missile and drone attack on Ukraine since start of war

Independent

17 hours ago

A Russian missile attack killed three people and wounded at least 14 in the city of Samar in Ukraine 's Dnipropetrovsk region on Friday, the governor said.
This was the second Russian missile attack in the last three days on the industrial city in central Ukraine. Regional officials have no immediate details on the damage.
It comes as South Korea 's intelligence agency warned that Russia could be preparing to launch a big summer attack on Ukraine with help from more North Korean troops.
The country's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Moscow could be readying to mount a large-scale assault against Ukraine in July or August.
The NIS told South Korean lawmakers that North Korea would likely send 6,000 additional military personnel to Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has received from Russia a number of its soldiers who were hailed as "heroes" for their role in defending besieged Mariupol, part of the latest prisoner swap between the two countries that was agreed in Istanbul.
Trump would join peace talks between Putin and Zelensky, says Erdogan
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Donald Trump told him he would attend potential peace talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in Turkey.
But it all depends on if Russian president Vladimir Putin also agreed to take part, Mr Erdogan said.
On his return flight from a Nato summit at The Hague, where he met Mr Trump for the first time since the latter returned to office, Mr Erdogan said he told the US president Ankara aims to bring the Russian and Ukrainian leaders together in Turkey for peace talks.
"He (Trump) said, 'if Russian president Vladimir Putin comes to Istanbul or Ankara for a solution, then I will also come," Mr Erdogan told reporters, according to his office.
"We will hold the necessary contacts and God willing realise this meeting as soon as possible."
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Zelensky welcomes home fresh batch of Ukrainian prisoners of war
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed home a new batch of the country's soldiers taken captive by Russia as the two sides exchanged more prisoners of war yesterday.
'We are continuing the exchanges, another stage has taken place. Today, warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service are returning home. Most of them had been in captivity since 2022,' he said in a post on X.
'We are doing everything possible to find each person, to verify the information on every name. We must bring all our people home,' he said, just days after he said Russia had sent some of its own dead soldiers to Ukraine in a swap of fallen soldiers.
He also shared an emotional video of the Ukrainian soldiers reuniting with their loved ones upon return to the country at an undisclosed location.
The returned soldiers are seen draped in Ukrainian flags, hugging and crying their loved ones, calling their family members, drinking a beverage and smoking.
Alexander Butler27 June 2025 11:30
Moscow planning summer attack with North Korea, Seoul warns
South Korea's intelligence agency warned that Russia could be preparing to launch a big summer attack on Ukraine with help from more North Korean troops.
The country's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Moscow could be readying to mount a large-scale assault against Ukraine in July or August.
The NIS told South Korean politicans that North Korea would likely send 6,000 additional military personnel to Russia.
Alexander Butler27 June 2025 11:02
North Korea's deployment to Ukraine will be 'significant battlefield inflection' – ISW
North Korea's deployment of its troops to Ukrainian territory will represent 'significant battlefield inflection', the Institute for the Study of War.
'The North Korean and Russian military commands authorising the deployment of North Korean forces to Ukrainian territory would mark a significant battlefield inflection that may improve Russian forces' ability to sustain simultaneous offensive operations in multiple directions, which the Russian military has traditionally struggled to conduct,' the US-based think tank said in its latest assessment.
According to the South Korean intelligence, North Korea may deploy an unspecified number of additional North Korean forces to Russia to fight against Ukraine as early as July or August 2025 and that North Korea continues to arm Russia with artillery ammunition and missiles.
Alexander Butler27 June 2025 11:00
Russian missile attack kills three
A Russian missile attack killed three people and wounded at least 14 in the city of Samar in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region on Friday, the governor said.
This was the second Russian missile attack in the last three days on the industrial city in central Ukraine. Regional officials gave no immediate details on damage.
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Ukraine and Russia battle it out in war's hottest sector Sumy. Here's what we know so far
Ukraine has announced it has pushed back Russian forces on the battlefield and said they have prevented an advance into the northern Sumy region, which has been one of the hottest fighting areas along the war frontline.
Ukraine's top military commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Ukrainian successes in Sumy have prevented Russia from deploying about 50,000 Russian troops, including elite airborne and marine brigades, to other areas of the frontline.
Here's what we know about the region caught in heavy attacks.
Sumy, the city which is the capital of the Ukrainian region of the same name, had a prewar population of around 250,000.
It lies about 20km (12 miles) from the frontline. Russia's push into the region earlier this year compelled Ukraine to strengthen its defences there.
Sumy borders Russia's Kursk region, where a surprise Ukrainian incursion last year captured a pocket of land in the first occupation of Russian territory since the Second World War.
The long border is vulnerable to Ukrainian incursions, Russian president Vladimir Putin said, and creating a buffer zone could help Russia prevent further cross-border attacks there.
General Syrskyi said a special defence group has been formed to improve security in Sumy and surrounding communities, with a focus on improving fortifications and accelerating construction of defensive barriers.
Alexander Butler27 June 2025 10:00
Britain must 'actively prepare' for a war on home soil, major government review warns
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The new National Security Strategy has been published with a grim warning as international turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine continues
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