Ukrainian drones struck a Russian oil depot overnight, breaking through the netting that had been installed earlier to protect the site from such attacks, a security official told Business Insider on Thursday. Long-range Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Velikiye Luki, a city in western Russia's Pskov region, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said. They were only authorized to speak on the condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
In the early hours of the night, Russia launched another coordinated strike package against Ukrainian cities, combining drones, cruise missiles, and most significantly, ballistic missiles. It was a deliberate escalation, timed not only for maximum physical damage, but for maximum political effect. These strikes came days before so-called trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, billed optimistically by some as "productive," yet once again exposed as hollow by Moscow's actions.
United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has said he held productive and constructive meetings with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida, as President Donald Trump's administration presses to end Russia's nearly four-year war in Ukraine. We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine, wrote Witkoff in a post on X following Saturday's talks.
Stephen Oduor was looking forward to starting his new job as a plumber in Russia to support his family after months of unemployment. But soon after landing in St Petersburg from Nairobi with six other Kenyans one afternoon last August, he started feeling something was off. The man who received them at the airport drove them to a house where their luggage was taken away and they were given black clothes and shoes to wear.
KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least one person and wounded 31 overnight into Saturday as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States were to meet in the United Arab Emirates for a second day of talks to end Russia's nearly four-year full-scale invasion. One person was killed and four were wounded in Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.
Russia carried out an aerial attack on Kyiv overnight, severing power and water supplies for thousands of residential buildings in the Ukrainian capital amid a temperature of minus 14 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit), the city's mayor said Tuesday. The drone and missile strikes hit the east bank of the Dnipro River on the night of Monday to Tuesday, Vitali Klitschko said. A 50-year-old man reportedly died in the attack, according to Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk. The strikes also damaged two fuel stations, he added.
The Oreshnik, a medium-range (non-intercontinental) ballistic missile that flies at hypersonic speed and is designed for nuclear warfare scenarios, has been deployed again by Russia in its latest offensive against Ukraine. The missile reaches a suborbital altitude and can carry up to six warheads, either nuclear or conventional. Its high speed and the very short time frame for attack make it extremely difficult for air defense systems to intercept.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the alleged drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin's residences in Novgorod, a region in northwestern Russia, had been intended to derail recent diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict. This terrorist action is aimed at collapsing the negotiation process, Peskov said, adding that Russia's military knows when and how it will respond. The diplomatic consequence will be to toughen the negotiating position of the Russian Federation.
The United States is offering Ukraine security guarantees for a period of 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, though he said he would prefer an American commitment of up to 50 years to deter Russia from further attempts to seize its neighbor's land by force. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday and insisted that Ukraine and Russia are "closer than ever before" to a peace settlement.
despite continuing Russian attacks on the towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region. Ukraine rejected this claim, as well as assertions from Moscow that the towns of Myrnohrad and Huliaipole had been completely captured by Russian forces. The Ukrainian military said that the situation in these regions is "difficult" but "defensive operations" are still ongoing.
Two police officers and another person have been killed in blast in southern Moscow, according to the Russian Investigative Committee. The two traffic police officers were killed overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday in an explosion that occurred when they attempted to arrest a suspicious individual, the Committee said in a statement on Wednesday. An explosive device was triggered as the officers approached the suspect who was near their service vehicle, the statement said.
Friday's attacks by Russian forces targeted Chornomorsk and Odesa ports in Ukraine's southwestern Odesa region on the Black Sea. A Ukrainian navy spokesperson told the Reuters news agency that three Turkish-owned vessels were damaged in total, but did not provide additional details. list of 3 itemsend of list Posting video footage on social media of firefighters tackling a blaze on board what he described as a civilian vessel in Chornomorsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian attacks had no military purpose whatsoever.
President Trump had set a deadline of Thursday for Ukraine to accept a deal to give up territory to Russia, including territory that Russia has not captured on the battlefield in almost four years of war. But now that deadline seems to be shifting and the terms of the deal changing. The White House says there's been, quote, 'tremendous progress' in talks this week, but more negotiations are needed.
Ukrainian strikes have "annihilated" a major power plant in Moscow with multiple explosions and machine gun fire was heard at the Shatura Thermal Power Plant in Moscow Oblast. Unverified footage shows multiple explosions ringing out with several fireballs lighting up the night sky. Moscow region governor, Andrei Vorobyov, said, "Some of the drones were destroyed by air defense forces. Several fell on the territory of the station," he added a fire broke out but this is now "localised".
The 28-point Trumpplan calls for Russia to gain full de facto control of Luhansk and Donetsk (together referred to as the Donbas), despite Ukraine still controlling around 12% of the territory there. Despite being under Russian control, the areas in Donbas from which Ukraine would withdraw would be considered a demilitarized zone, with Russia not able to position troops there. In two other war-torn regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the current lines of control would mostly be frozen in place, with Russia returning some land, subject to negotiations.
A Russian soldier, with his face blurred, poses in front of the bodies of three Ukrainian soldiers lying face down in a pool of blood, their hands clasped behind their heads. The image, shared by the Russian Rusich unit on its Telegram channel, is accompanied by an announcement for a contest: The first three people to submit a photo of prisoners who have clearly been erased from existence will receive a cryptocurrency reward.
Russia unleashed a massive combined attack on Kyiv early Friday, sparking fires and scattering debris across many districts of the capital, mayor Vitali Klitschko said. At least 11 people were injured as emergency crews responded to multiple strikes, he said in a statement. Five people were hospitalised, including one man in critical condition and a pregnant woman, after a series of powerful explosions sounded in the city and air defences were activated.
Drone sightings, threats and an arms race raise spectre of war. After nearly four years of war between Kyiv and Moscow, fighting is heating up on the front lines of eastern Ukraine. But with drones spotted at sensitive sites across the European Union, its leaders have declared Russia is fighting a hybrid war beyond Ukraine's borders. They say the bloc will protect every centimetre of its territory, as member states scale up military spending to heights not seen for decades.
