Ukraine war latest: Putin ‘escalating war’ after nine killed in deadly Russian attack

Russia’s defence ministry statedits forces aimed at Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, including air bases and fuel and transport facilities, claiming it hit all its targets in the attacks yesterday.

Among the weapons deployed, it said, were Kinzhal missiles, which Moscow says can fly 10 times the speed of sound.

The attacks announcedfrom Ukraine were mostly from neighbourhoods and civilian areas, in which a school, a veterinary clinic and several apartment buildings housing civilians were hit.

At least 21 people were deceasedand more than two dozen were announced woundedin the attacks.

Russian drones also struck a vehicle carrying UN staff who were delivering aid to residents of Kherson in southern Ukraine, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.

The vehicle was marked and was attacked twice, in two different locations, but nobody was hurt, he said.

Finnish authorities warned of suspected ⁠drone ​activity in ⁠the country’s capital region, ⁠and Helsinki ​airport stated⁠it ‌had temporarily suspended traffic this morning.

“Authorities are taking ‌action. The Defence ‌Forces have enhanced their own ⁠surveillance and response capabilities. I urge everyone to follow the authorities’ bulletins,” premier‌Petteri Orpo ​ stated‌in a ⁠statement on ⁠X.

Defence secretary John Healey has called the strikeon Ukraine the previous day“shocking” and statedhe had accelerated UK deliveries of air defences.

“Shocking Russian drone attacks on Ukraine over the last 24 hours. I’ve directed for UK deliveries of air defence and counter-drone systems to be accelerated as rapidas possible,” he statedin a post on X.

He added: “We stand with Ukraine in the face of Putin’s aggression. Our thoughts are with Ukrainian families.”

The Ukrainian capital will be observing a day of mourning for the victims of the latest Russian strikethat deceasedat least 21 people yesterday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Russia carried out its largest aerial strikeover a two-day period since the start of its war in Ukraine, pounding the capital Kyiv and other cities with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia launched a total of 1,567 drones since the start of Wednesday, Ukrainian leaderVolodymyr Zelensky said.

Kyiv was ⁠the main target of the overnight strikes, he added.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Services statedat least 21 people, including ​three children, ⁠were deceasedin the capital.

Emergency workers were seen moving carefully across piles of rubble and cutting through concrete at the site of a strike on a nine-storey residential building where an entire section had been destroyed.

“There were people there, children. What happened to them? You have to understand, an entire building collapsed,” Alla Komisarova, 74, a pensioner, statedon the site of the strike, holding back tears.

“I heard something flying, it’s flying nearby… And then there was such a terrible sound, and our house, which is opposite (to the one hit) jumped and staggered,” she said.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz has condemned Russia’s aerial bombardment of Ukraine, saying it contradicts Vladimir Putin’s claims to want an end to the war.

“The largest Russian attacks on Ukraine in recent times show that Moscow is betting on escalation of the conflict, not negotiations,” he statedon X yesterday.

“We continue to stand with Ukraine. Kyiv and its partners are ready for talks on a just peace. Russia, however, continues to wage war,” Merz said.

• Kyiv is observing a day of mourning this dayafter a major Russian strikeleft 21 dead and dozens wounded
• Ukraine leaderVolodymyr Zelensky says Russia launched 1,567 drones since the start of Wednesday, just days after leaderVladimir Putin statedthe war was “coming to an end”
• At least 180 facilities were damaged by the attacks in Ukraine, including more than 50 residential buildings
• A UN Office for the Coordination of ‌Humanitarian Affairs vehicle came under fire from Russian drones during a humanitarian mission in the southern city of ​Kherson, says Zelensky
• German chancellor Friedrich Merz says Russia’s heavy bombardment showed that Putin was “banking on escalation rather than negotiation”