Russian strike damages UNESCO-protected sites in Ukraine's Odesa
The Russian drone attack damaged UNESCO-protected landmarks, such as Prymorskyi Boulevard and the Pryvoz Market, both part of the historic centre of the Black Sea port city, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, said on Telegram.
Various fires broke out in the region as a result of the strikes, including at a nine-storey residential building. At least four people were injured, spokesperson for the State Emergency Service of Odesa, Marina Averina, reported.
Apartments from the fifth to the eighth floors were destroyed, and fires broke out on the fifth and sixth floors. Emergency crews rescued five people trapped in their apartments and evacuated another 33 residents.
Russia also launched attacks in the Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X.
"Yesterday, at the meeting in Istanbul, the proposal for an immediate and full ceasefire was reiterated to the Russian side," Zelenskyy wrote, adding that in response, Russia had launched numerous attacks at Ukraine.
In Kharkiv, three people were killed and at least five injured, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. And overnight attacks at Cherkasy, south-east of Kyiv, sparked several fires and injured at least seven people, including a child, according to local media.
Local authorities reported that two powerful explosions went off in the city, resulting in power cuts and interruptions to Internet connections.
Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, reported that the region was targeted by nine Shahed drones during the night, resulting in multiple fires.
The town of Mykolaiv, in the south of the country, also became the target of a drone attack. The head of the Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, said Russia attacked the town with Shahed drones overnight. No casualties have yet been reported.
Ukrainian army targets Russian oil depot
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone struck an oil depot in Sirius, near the Russian city of Sochi, in the Krasnodar region.
The local governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, reported that two people were killed by fallen debris from a drone that had been shot down in Sochi.
"Debris from the drone also fell on the territory of an oil depot. As a result of the attack, 11 people were injured, four were hospitalised," he wrote on Telegram. These claims could not be independently verified.
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that 42 Ukrainian drones were intercepted by Russian defence systems on Wednesday night, including seven in the Krasnodar region.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
20 hours ago
- LeMonde
'In Eastern Europe, it is often mainstream media that spreads false information and promotes illiberal ideas'
In light of growing evidence of democratic backsliding and rising authoritarianism worldwide, digital media are increasingly seen as central drivers of these trends – both for their well-documented role in amplifying illiberal and radical right-wing politics, and for their known susceptibility to foreign manipulation. This perception is arguably reinforced by media coverage of some of the recent elections, from France to the United States to Romania, highlighting the importance of video platforms, influencers and podcasters for electoral mobilization, as well as raising alarms about Russian interference. However, if we step back from the narrow focus on electoral campaigns in countries with relatively pluralistic news markets, and take a look at the broader political information environment shaping citizens' opinions, we can often see that it is the mainstream media and domestic actors – rather than social media and hostile foreign powers – who assume the central role in the dissemination of false information, and in the promotion of illiberal attitudes. Our own research on the rise of illiberalism in Eastern Europe highlights many such examples, while at the same time showing that under certain conditions – namely, wherever the majority of the mainstream media market has been captured by illiberal political actors or their business allies – social media can act as channels of resistance against the forces of illiberalism. Major channels of propaganda In Eastern Europe, some of the most potent manifestations of the crucial role of mainstream media in the illiberal public sphere are currently observed in Hungary and Serbia. In Hungary, Viktor Orban's Fidesz party has effectively colonized the vast majority of the media market, and turned major media brands into channels of government propaganda, starting with the public service broadcaster MTVA. In Serbia, the key outlets upholding the illiberal regime of Aleksandar Vucic have been commercial TV stations such as Pink TV, TV Happy, TV Prva and TV92, as well as the main national tabloids such as Informer, Alo, Kurir and Srpski telegraf, all owned by Serbian companies with close ties with the ruling elites.
Local France
a day ago
- Local France
France's top court annuls arrest warrant against Syria's Assad
The Court of Cassation ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. But its presiding judge, Christophe Soulard, added that, as Assad was no longer president after an Islamist-led group toppled him in December, "new arrest warrants can have been, or can be, issued against him" and as such the investigation into the case could continue. Human rights advocates had hoped the court would rule that immunity did not apply because of the severity of the allegations, which would have set a major precedent in international law towards holding accused war criminals to account. They said that, in this regard, it was a missed opportunity. "This ruling represents a setback for the global fight against impunity for the most serious crimes under international law," said Mazen Darwish, the head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, a civil party to the case. French authorities issued the warrant against Assad in November 2023 over his alleged role in the chain of command for a sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4 and 5, 2013 in Adra and Douma outside Damascus. Assad is accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the case. Syrian authorities at the time denied involvement and blamed rebels. Universal jurisdiction The French judiciary tackled the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, whereby a court may prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed in other countries. An investigation -- based on testimonies of survivors and military defectors, as well as photos and video footage -- led to warrants for the arrest of Assad, his brother Maher who headed an elite army unit, and two generals. Advertisement Public prosecutors approved three of the warrants, but issued an appeal against the one targeting Assad, arguing he should have immunity as a head of state. The Paris Court of Appeal in June last year however upheld it, and prosecutors again appealed. But in December, Assad's circumstances changed. He and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after Islamist-led fighters seized power from him. In January, French investigating magistrates issued a second arrest warrant against Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian. 'Great victory' The Court of Cassation said Assad's so called "personal immunity", granted because of his office, meant he could not be targeted by arrest warrants until his ouster. But it ruled that "functional immunity", which is granted to people who perform certain functions of state, could be lifted in the case of accusations of severe crimes. Thus it upheld the French judiciary's indictment in another case against ex-governor of the Central Bank of Syria and former finance minister, Adib Mayaleh. Advertisement He has been accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity over alleged funding of the Assad government during Syria's civil war. Mayaleh obtained French nationality in 1993, and goes by the name Andre Mayard on his French passport. Darwish, the Syrian lawyer, said that part of the court's ruling was however a "great victory". "It establishes the principle that no agent of a foreign state, regardless of the position they hold, can invoke their immunity when international crimes are at stake," he said. Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes since its eruption in 2011 with the then-government's brutal crackdown on anti-Assad protests. Assad's fall on December 8, 2024 ended his family's five-decade rule.
Euronews
a day ago
- Euronews
Ukraine says it is holding back Russia's summer offensive
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian forces are holding back Russia's summer attempts to break through defences along parts of the front line. 'They are not advancing. It's very tough for our guys out there. And it's tough everywhere,' Zelenskyy told reporters. 'It's also very hard for the Russians — and that's good for us," he added. With the war now in its fourth year after Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbour, the effort is draining resources on both sides, although Russia has more resources and people to sustain its fight. Ukraine, meanwhile, is seeking further support from Western partners. Russia has claimed the capture of some villages and hamlets in recent weeks, but no defensively stronger urban areas have fallen to its troops. Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have repeatedly attempted to stage minor incursions near Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region to film symbolic footage, such as raising a Russian flag, but Ukrainian forces have repelled those efforts, Zelenskyy said. 'It happened five to seven times recently, sometimes with only two or six people. Once they tried to hold a position with 12 people — and all of them were eliminated by our defenders,' Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy described the situation in the northeastern Sumy border region as 'much better' than in recent months, noting progress by Ukrainian forces over the past six weeks. Ukraine seeking Patriot missile systems Russia has also intensified its bombardment of Ukrainian cities, with the second-largest city Kharkiv struck with a powerful glide bomb for a second straight day Friday. Seven people were injured, officials said. On Thursday, 42 were injured. Joyce Msuya, the United Nations' deputy humanitarian chief, told the Security Council on Friday that Ukraine's humanitarian situation is 'deteriorating' due to expanding Russian attacks on civilian areas across the country. 'There is no safe place left in Ukraine,' she said. Zelenskyy said Ukraine is working with international partners to secure 10 US-made Patriot air defence systems, which can shoot down missiles, with three already confirmed from Germany and Norway. The Trump administration will sell the systems, he said, but Ukraine's task is to find funding for all 10. Ukraine is also seeking to obtain a license to manufacture the Patriot systems itself. No summit meeting in sight, says Moscow The Ukrainian leader expressed little hope for progress in direct talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, though he said the Kremlin envoys have begun discussing the possibility of a leaders' summit with Ukraine. 'We need an end to the war, which probably begins with a meeting of leaders. It won't work any other way with (the Russians),' Zelenskyy said. The Kremlin, however, remained set against top-level talks before a potential comprehensive peace agreement is fleshed out. 'A high-level meeting can and must put a final point in the settlement and seal the modalities and agreements that are yet to be worked out by experts,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday. 'It's impossible to act otherwise.'
