Two women killed and two injured in Russian attacks on Donetsk Oblast
Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office on Telegram
Details: Russian troops shelled Kostiantynivka with artillery at approximately 07:30. A 54-year-old woman was killed by a direct hit on a residential building. Her daughter, 27, sustained a blast injury, an open head wound, and injuries to her head, neck and legs.
At 10:35, a Lancet kamikaze drone struck near a shop in Raihorodok in the Kramatorsk district. A 51-year-old woman working at a kiosk was killed instantly, and a 39-year-old woman selling goods at the market was taken to hospital after sustaining shrapnel wounds and a blast injury.
Law enforcement officers are documenting the consequences of the attacks as evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian Federation against civilians.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Russia's Jet Powered Shahed Kamikaze Drone Is A Big Problem For Ukraine
A deadly Russian attack on Kyiv and other cities overnight included the use of the jet-powered variant of the Shahed drone, several Ukrainian officials said. The strike highlighted growing concerns that these weapons are harder to track and intercept than propeller-driven Shaheds because of how fast and high they fly. Until alternatives are found, these drones will require Ukraine to use expensive and precious surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) that can cost millions apiece. This looming challenge is something we predicted in detail last year, which you can read more about here. The attack included eight jet-powered Shaheds among more than 300 launched, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat said. While just a small fraction of the strike package, these drones can evade many current Ukrainian air defenses. 'Basically, on radar it is displayed as a cruise missile by flight parameters, because the speed there can be 500-plus kilometers per hour (310mph),' he explained. 'Not all means that we use today can intercept such targets.' There are reports from Ukrainian spotters that the RF has launched multiple jet powered Shaheds at Ukraine tonight. The faster speed of these UAVs can defeat interceptor drones and makes it harder for mobile gun crews to track and shoot them down.#OSINT #UkraineRussiaWar — OSINT Intuit (@UKikaski) July 30, 2025 At least 13 people were killed and more than 130 injured in this latest barrage, which also included eight Iskander-K cruise missiles, Ukrainian officials state. Since the night hours, our rescuers, firefighters, medics, and all the necessary emergency services have been working at the sites of Russian missile and drone strikes. The Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv regions have been affected. The capital was the primary target of… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 31, 2025 The jet-powered drones appear to be a version of the Shahed-238 drone that Iran first presented last November. According to documents that were leaked in April 2023, the Shahed-238 has a range of between 620 and 1,240 miles and can climb to an altitude of up to nearly six miles. The warhead weighs 50 kg (about 110 pounds) and its turbojet engine produced a maximum speed of up to 600 kmh (about 370 mph). In comparison, the basic Shahed-136 reportedly has a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and a cruising speed of 180km/h (111mph), a similar speed as a small general aviation light aircraft. 'Such characteristics make the Shahed-238 virtually unattainable for both mobile fire groups equipped with small arms and cannon weapons and for interceptor drones with electric motors,' the Ukrainian Militarnyi defense news outlet posited. That assessment concurs with what we wrote last November. 'Even more advanced air defenses will be more challenged by much higher-performance Shaheds. Reduced reaction times would make taking them out tougher, especially when employed in large numbers and when part of layered attacks that can include both types of Shaheds, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.' The howling sounds of the recent Russian 'Shahed' attacks on Odesa indicate that some are the latest variant, the turbojet-powered 'Geran-3'.They represent a significant challenge for gun-based air defenses due to their diving speed of 700km/hr. — Roy (@GrandpaRoy2) April 25, 2025 While not the first use of these weapons, Russia's deployment of jet-powered one-way attack drones comes as Ukraine is already struggling to defend against the improved capabilities and tactics of the propeller-driven Shaheds and the vastly greater numbers in which they are being produced. Among the countermeasures to this problem have been the creation and use of interceptor drones. They are based on uniquely-configured first-person view (FPV) drones Ukraine has been using to counter Russian reconnaissance drones for the past year. These counter-air FPV drones have to fly faster and higher than their standard FPV counterparts used for striking ground targets. Ukrainian interceptor drones – STRILA and BUREWIY. STRILA can reach speeds of up to 350 km/h and destroy Russian Geran UAVs. BUREWIY is designed to shoot down Russia's Zala, Orlan and SuperCam ISR drones. — Samuel Bendett (@sambendett) June 24, 2025 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently called for the production of 1,000 of these interceptors a day. However, Ukraine's top tech official earlier this week warned that these may not be effective against the jet-powered Shaheds. Predicting that Russia 'will definitely switch to jet drones,' First Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine needs to boost its ability to defeat them. 'We need to work on this,' he said on the government's national television broadcast Monday night. 'They are already integrating various solutions that allow Shaheds to bypass interceptors, and we are implementing other solutions. Therefore, this is a daily change of tactics.' Ukraine is being warned to prepare for jet-powered Shahed drones that fly faster, hit harder, and are tougher to — UNITED24 Media (@United24media) July 28, 2025 One noted Ukrainian military-political observer suggested that Russia used the jet drones in this attack to determine the effectiveness of the new interceptors. 'It is quite possible that today's use of a group of jet drones was caused by testing such a means of destruction against anti-aircraft drones,' Alexander Kovalenko stated on Telegram Thursday. 'In other words, it is possible that the Russians were trying to find out how effective anti-aircraft interceptor drones are against jet kamikaze drones. This fits well with the current attempts of the [Russians] to find a quick solution to counter anti-aircraft drones besides changing the tactics of using Shahed-136 and carrying out their additional modernization.' While Ukraine is developing interceptors that could counter the jet-powered Shaheds, developing them at scale is proving to be a challenge due to Russian attacks on production facilities and supply chain issues, Fedorov noted. 'In parallel with scaling and finding people for scaling, purchasing components, businesses have to constantly change locations, work on the security of their production,' he said. There is a question, however, about just how many of these weapons Russia can make. While they are now making 2,000 propeller-driven Shaheds per month with plans to boost that to 5,000, adding jet engines makes them harder to produce. Inside Russia's Geran-2 drone factory in TatarstanRare footage reveals the Alabuga plant's mass production of tens of thousands of deadly kamikaze dronesDesigned to attack in relentless swarms — 'Gerans' punch through Ukraine's defenses — outmaneuvering even F-16s — RT (@RT_com) July 20, 2025 'Such drones, compared to the conventional Shahed-136, have two major drawbacks that limit their use — the complexity of production and price,' Militarnyi noted. 'Due to their much higher speeds, drones need to withstand much greater loads, so they must have a stronger body and more powerful guidance drives, which must be manufactured with greater precision and smaller tolerances than can be allowed on slower drones.' The drones' turbojet engines are another factor. These are more complex and expensive to produce than the small reciprocating engines used by the Shahed-136s. This could limit production scalability and would pull resources away from producing more -136s for every jet-powered derivative built. China, which is supporting Russia via providing materials and components for its wartime buildup, could be a critical aspect of supplying what's needed to produce these engines. With all this in mind, it remains to be seen whether Russia can scale up the production of the Shahed-238s to make them a prominent threat. There is also an open question of whether Ukraine will be able to develop interceptor drones capable of mitigating that threat. As we noted earlier, this is especially important because the cost of those weapons is a fraction of the price of high-end SAM capable of reaching altitudes that jets cruise at. A single AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) fired by one of Ukraine's National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) that have shot down plenty of Shaheds costs roughly between $500,000 and $1 million. Meanwhile, Patriot PAC-3 interceptors cost about $4 million a piece. At least for now, it's most likely that we will see jet-powered Shaheds layered-in with Shahed-136s in an attempt to complicate mass attacks and thus Ukraine's ability to defend against them. But Russia clearly sees the Shahed-136 as a way to bleed Ukraine of advanced interceptors, which are increasingly scarce, at the lowest possible cost, which would open the country up to unfettered attacks by more destructive weapons. Contact the author: howard@ Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Missiles, drones hit Kyiv in deadly wave of Russian strikes
The assault came shortly after Trump threatened new sanctions on Moscow if President Vladimir Putin of Russia did not put a halt to the bloodshed in 10 days. Russian officials have dismissed that warning. Advertisement Also, Thursday, Ukraine's parliament approved legislation restoring the independence of the country's two main government anti-corruption bodies — a move demanded by Kyiv's international partners as well as tens of thousands of enraged Ukrainians who protested on the streets of the capital and other cities. The legislation passed by a comfortable margin, with 331 deputies voting in favor; a majority of 226 was needed. It was a stunning about-face by the same lawmakers who just last week had supported the previous law undermining the agencies, which drew public fury. The bombardment began around midnight with swarms of drones packed with explosives descending on the city from multiple directions. Tracer fire from heavy machine guns lit up the sky as air defense crews struggled to keep up with the barrage. Drones exploded over city streets as residents raced to find shelter wherever they could. Advertisement At 3:20 a.m., the Ukrainian air force issued an all-clear signal, but the threat resumed about an hour later. This time, missiles slammed into the city center, with one striking a nine-story apartment building. There were direct hits from five missiles and 21 drones at 12 locations around the capital, the air force said in a statement. Debris from downed targets was also recorded at 19 locations — almost all in the capital. Outside one devastated apartment building, a woman still in her pajamas and a young boy were carried away from the smoldering rubble as crews searched for survivors. Ihor Klymenko, the minister of internal affairs, watched the search-and-rescue operation outside one damaged apartment building as workers struggled to free a man from the rubble. Klymenko said the rescue crew had to cut a tunnel to free the man, clearing room around his head so he could breathe. The man was eventually rescued a couple of hours later, officials said. He was taken away for medical care, but the extent of his injuries was not immediately clear. Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said at least one child, a 6-year-old, was killed and nine others injured. 'This is the highest number of children injured in a single night in Kyiv since the start of the full-scale war,' he said. Other towns and cities were also attacked. At least one person was killed and 11 more wounded when a residential building in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine was struck by a Russian bomb, local officials said. They warned that people may still be trapped under the rubble. Advertisement But the focus of a vast majority of the 309 drones and eight missiles used in the bombardment overnight was Kyiv, officials said. 'Today, the world once again saw Russia's response to our desire for peace, shared with America and Europe,' President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said in a statement. The only way to force Russia to make peace, he said, was for the United States and Europe to deploy the full range of diplomatic and military tools at their disposal. A headline in RIA Novosti, an official Russian news agency, was shared widely across Ukrainian social media. 'There is no other option: no one should remain alive in Ukraine,' the headline proclaimed only hours before the first Russian drones crossed into Ukrainian airspace. Trump entered office promising to quickly end the war, but the Kremlin has refused all calls for a halt to the fighting. Instead, Moscow has increased the pace of its offensive on the front and expanded the scale of its bombardments directed at towns and cities across the country. It is unclear what specific measures Trump will take to pressure Moscow if it fails to meet his deadline next week. Ukrainians hope that, at a minimum, he will target the Kremlin's main source of funding for its war effort: oil exports. The Senate has crafted legislation that would impose secondary sanctions on nations that buy Russian oil, including China, but lawmakers have held back voting on the measure despite broad bipartisan support. Instead, they have deferred to the White House. On Wednesday, Trump moved to penalize India for continuing to buy Russian oil and weapons and announced that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on the nation, saying he would include additional unspecified penalties for continuing to trade with Moscow. Advertisement Trump also responded to comments made by Dmitry Medvedev, a Russian former president and deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, who called Trump's deadline a 'threat and a step towards war' between Russia and the United States. 'Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President, to watch his words,' Trump wrote in a statement posted on social media. 'He's entering very dangerous territory!'
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
NY parole officer who moonlights as therapist indicted on child porn charges
A New York State parole officer who moonlights as a therapist has been indicted after he was found with child pornography on his cellphone during a stop at JFK airport earlier this year. Colin Kowlessar, 53, was arrested when Customs and Border Protection agents found videos and photos of child porn on his iPhone during a stop at the airport after returning from a trip to Guyana on Feb. 27, according to a complaint from the time. Kowlessar, who worked as a parole officer with the new York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, is expected to be arraigned next week in Brooklyn federal court after a grand jury indicted him Wednesday in the same case on one count of possession of child pornography. Advertisement Colin Kowlessar — a parole officer and therapist — has been indicted for allegedly having child porn on his phone. Psychology Today Kowlessar, a husband and father living in Freeport, Long Island, has been free on $250,000 bond since his February court appearance. The conditions of his release included orders that he surrendered his service gun, agreed not to treat patients under the age of 18 as part of his side gig as a therapist, and stayed away from minors, with the exception of his 16-year-old son from another marriage. Advertisement The materials — including three short videos — found on his phone involved girls performing sex acts and were downloaded from the Telegram app, the complaint alleged. One of the victims was under the age of 12, according to the indictment. In the app, officers found archived chats in groups called 'Underworld VIP' and ' — which both contained a known code for child porn — an emoji of the number 18 crossed out in red, the court documents claim. Kowlessar was arrested earlier this year at JFK airport on a trip back to New York when border patrol officers stopped him and found the illicit materials on his phone. LinkedIn/Colin Kowlessar Advertisement Kowlessar admitted to cops during an interview that 'on at least two separate occasions he has purchased 'CP' [child porn] knowing that the persons depicted therein were minors,' the complaint alleges. 'The defendant also stated that he has since deleted the materials.' Kowlessar's criminal defense attorney Rich Langone told The Post by phone Thursday afternoon that 'this was an accidental downloading.' 'Be careful when you're floating around the internet,' Langone said. 'You never know what can pop on…and you go on something and something pops up and if it pops up, you could be liable for it.' 'He's a good man, a family man,' the lawyer said. 'He has no criminal history.' Advertisement Langone also said his client has never had a negative complaint from his work as a therapist. The defense attorney confirmed that his client has been on inactive duty as a parole officer since his arrest. Kowlessar's online therapist profile says he has 10-years of experience and helps clients with myriad issues, including depression, anxiety, relationship issues, parenting problems, career challenges and substance abuse issues, according to Psychology Today.
