Russian drones target two Ukrainian cities, killing at least one person
The assault targeted the southern port city of Odesa and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, hitting apartment blocks, officials said on Friday.
The barrage of more than 20 drones injured almost two dozen civilians, including girls aged 17 and 12, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The drones targeted multi-storey apartment buildings in Odesa (Michael Shtekel/AP)
The strikes came as a Kremlin official said he expected an announcement next week on dates for a fresh round of direct peace talks.
'Russia continues its tactics of targeted terror against our people,' Mr Zelensky said on messaging app Telegram, urging the US and the European Union to increase economic pressure on Moscow.
Russia has shown no sign of relenting in its attacks, more than three years after it invaded its neighbour. It is pressing a summer offensive on parts of the 620-mile front line and has kept up long-range strikes that have hit civilian areas.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the date for the next round peace talks is expected to be agreed next week.
Kyiv officials have not recently spoken about resuming talks with Russia, last held when delegations met in Istanbul on June 2, though Ukraine continues to offer a ceasefire and support US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.
Firefighters in Odesa (Michael Shtekel/AP)
The two rounds of brief talks yielded only agreements on the exchange of prisoners and wounded soldiers.
A fire caused by Russia's nighttime strike on Odesa engulfed a four-storey residential building, which partly collapsed and injured three emergency workers.
A separate fire spread across the upper floors of a 23-storey high-rise, leading to the evacuation of around 600 residents.
In Kharkiv, at least eight drones hit civilian infrastructure, injuring four people including two children, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service.
Russia launched 80 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Ukraine's air force said, claiming that air defences shot down or jammed 70 of them.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
At least 70 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza as ceasefire prospects inch closer
The strikes began late on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, among others killing 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital where the bodies were brought. Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi near the southern city of Khan Younis. They were struck while sleeping, relatives said. A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City, and their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital. A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two, according to Al-Awda hospital. The strikes come as US President Donald Trump said there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, the president said: 'We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.' A man carries the wrapped body of a child who was killed along with others in an Israeli strike that targeted a school in northern Gaza, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) An official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, will arrive in Washington next week for talks on Gaza's ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Talks have been on and since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to be still alive. They were among some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war. The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. It said the dead include 6,089 killed since the end of the latest ceasefire. There is hope among hostage families that Mr Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move toward ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose. Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war in Gaza. Mr Netanyahu says he will end the war only once Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected. Palestinians carry humanitarian aid packages near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centre in Khan Younis, southern Gaza (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Meanwhile, hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for more than two months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Efforts by the United Nations to distribute the food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys. Palestinians have also been shot and wounded while on their way to get food at newly formed aid sites, run by the American and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza's health officials and witnesses. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on the roads heading toward the sites. Israel's military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites.
South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
At least 70 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza as ceasefire prospects inch closer
The strikes began late on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, among others killing 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital where the bodies were brought. Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi near the southern city of Khan Younis. They were struck while sleeping, relatives said. A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City, and their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital. A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two, according to Al-Awda hospital. The strikes come as US President Donald Trump said there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, the president said: 'We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.' A man carries the wrapped body of a child who was killed along with others in an Israeli strike that targeted a school in northern Gaza, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) An official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, will arrive in Washington next week for talks on Gaza's ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Talks have been on and since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half of them believed to be still alive. They were among some 250 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 2023, sparking the 21-month-long war. The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. It said the dead include 6,089 killed since the end of the latest ceasefire. There is hope among hostage families that Mr Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a wave of public support for the Iran war and its achievements, and he could feel he has more space to move toward ending the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners oppose. Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war in Gaza. Mr Netanyahu says he will end the war only once Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected. Palestinians carry humanitarian aid packages near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centre in Khan Younis, southern Gaza (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Meanwhile, hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza. After blocking all food for more than two months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Efforts by the United Nations to distribute the food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys. Palestinians have also been shot and wounded while on their way to get food at newly formed aid sites, run by the American and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Gaza's health officials and witnesses. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on the roads heading toward the sites. Israel's military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites.
ITV News
3 hours ago
- ITV News
Thousands turn out for 'illegal' Budapest Pride march
Words by Jamie Summers, ITV News Content Editor Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Budapest on Saturday to join the city's Pride event, despite it being outlawed by the Hungarian government. Organisers say it is the largest attendance ever for Budapest Pride, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, as people turned out in defiance of the law to support the country's LGBTQ+ community. Earlier this year, right-wing prime minister Viktor Orbán's government passed a new law which effectively made Pride illegal by limiting citizens' right to assembly. It is the only country in the European Union to have banned Pride events. But the move became a lightning rod for public anger, with thousands of Hungarians taking part in weekly protests in March and April against measures which many saw as an attack on civil liberties. Supporters of Pride said consistently they would press ahead with the event, regardless of its legal status. Right-wing groups planned counter-protests along the march's route. Earlier this month, the Mayor of Budapest gave his approval for the parade to be held in a bid to sidestep the law, but he was subsequently overruled by police. Despite the threat of punishment, the circumstances around the event appeared to drive many to attend. 'It's very difficult to grow up as a gay man in such a conservative country like this, to become aware that you're different than others, and then accept that after all you're not different at all,' said Bálint, a 24-year-old gay man. 'I'm really angry at our government because they are tarnishing the rainbow so much. I came to previous Pride Parades with much less of a knot in my stomach.' But others from beyond the LGBTQ+ also attended in protest at the government's actions. Veronika, who regularly attends Budapest Pride, told ITV News this year's event is especially important. 'I came with the same love as in previous years, but this current government is so much against it. Why can't just everyone be happy?' Under the new law, police can use facial recognition technology to issue fines ranging from around 20 to 500 euros. It is not yet clear whether the threat to issue fines will materialise in the coming weeks - but opposition parties have indicated they will help to pay any fines or challenge them in court. David Bedő, an opposition MP from the centrist Momentum Party, helped to organise the protests in April and encouraged people to turn out on Saturday. 'I know personally a lot of friends, acquaintances who who've never been to Pride before and now they said they're joining,' he told ITV News. 'I think this year's Pride turned into an anti-government demonstration pretty much. In the current situation, the government and the police cannot afford that anything. It's a strong message for the government.' Bedő was banned from the Hungarian parliament for more than two months when the vote to ban Pride passed, after he and other opposition MPs let off smoke bombs in the chamber in protest – but feels the government have overreached. He said: 'My first Pride was back in 2012, more than 13 years ago now. "I was 20 when I first attended pride, I've been attending ever since, but I think this is probably going to be the most important Pride in the history of Hungary, so far at least.' Dozens of politicians from across Europe also attended the parade, including the Mayors or deputy Mayors of Oslo, Barcelona and Amsterdam, while some organisations from the UK also took part. 'What's happening in Hungary is part of a broader, deeply worrying global trend, where LGBTI rights are under attack and Pride marches are increasingly being cancelled, banned, or violently disrupted,' said Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive of Amnesty International UK. 'Hungarians will not be pushed back. We must all continue to fight for a free, equal, and rights respecting Hungary.' The Orbán government has previously been accused of targeting LGBTQ+ people, with bans on same-sex adoption and restrictions on people's ability to change their gender over recent years. ILGA-Europe, an advocacy group which promotes LGBTQ+ rights across the continent, recently awarded Hungary one of the lowest scores in the European Union for its approach, with the ban on Pride singled out as an example of an increasingly authoritarian measure. After 15 years in power, Orbán goes into a general election next spring amid poor polling and a resurgent opposition, indicating he may face an uphill battle to stay in power. The move to ban Pride marches is the latest issue which has invoked stinging criticism from the European Union, but the Hungarian government shows little sign of changing course - Orbán posted on X this week, calling on the EU to 'refrain from interfering in the law enforcement affairs of Member States, where it has no role to play.'
