Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin’s forces ‘fire over 800 glide bombs’ in a week and repeatedly hit own territory
Ukraine says the only way to effectively counter Russia’s glide bomb threat is with US-made F-16 fighter jets
Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
Russian forces have used more than 800 glide bombs in the past week to hit Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said last night.
Ukraine’s war-time president shared photos of the Russian strikes on the besieged country’s cities of Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Odesa, Sumy, Kherson, Donetsk and Kharkiv.
“This week alone, Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine. Against our cities and communities, against our people, against everything that makes life normal,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
He said this after Russia struck Ukraine’s two largest cities yesterday, with missile fragments falling on a suburban Kyiv apartment building and a guided bomb killing one person in Kharkiv. An eight-month-old infant was injured in the bombing in Kharkiv, officials said.
It comes as at least 38 of the bombs, which have been credited with helping Russia regain the initiative on the frontline, reportedly dropped onto Russian territory by accident, according to a leaked internal Russian document.
The document suggested that between April 2023 and April 2024, more than three dozen of the bombs fell from the fighter jets carrying them.
7 killed and dozens wounded after missiles slammed into a town in southern Ukraine, officials say
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged support for Ukraine, EU and NATO in his farewell speech
Research expert tells UN it has 'irrefutably' established missile debris in Ukraine is North Korean
Ukraine strikes inside Russia disrupting the ability of Putin’s forces to use drones, MoD says
Ukraine's convicts offered release at a high price: Joining the fight against Russia
Ukraine's convicts offered release at a high price: Joining the fight against Russia
Ukraine is expanding its military recruiting to cope with battlefield shortages more than two years into fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion
Seven injured in Russian attack on Dnipro
At least seven people have been injured in an overnight Russian attack in southeastern Ukraine, local officials have reported.
Serhiy Lysak, head of the local miltary administration, said a 15-year-old boy was among those hurt.
Here we have some of the latest photos from Ukraine
Good morning.
Below we have some of the latest photos coming out of Ukraine.
Russia claims it downed 36 Ukrainian drones launched overnight
Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 36 drones that Ukraine launched at three regions bordering Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry said this morning.
At least 18 drones were downed over the Bryansk region in Russia’s west, nine were destroyed in the Kursk region south of Bryansk and nine over the Belgorod region further south, the ministry said.
Governors of the Bryansk and Kursk region said on Telegram that there were no injuries or extensive damage as a result of the attacks. Russian officials often do not disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.
While Kyiv doesn’t typically comment on these strikes, it maintains that attacks on Russia’s military, transport and energy infrastructure are in response to Moscow’s continuous attacks on Ukraine’s territory since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukrainians held prisoner for years in Russia return to Kyiv
Ten Ukrainians who had been held prisoner for years were released from Russian captivity Friday with the mediation of the Vatican, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Part of the group arrived overnight by helicopter at Kyiv International Airport, which has been closed since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. It was the first time in over two years the airport received passengers. The rest of the group arrived by bus.
Some of the released civilians had been captured before Russia’s invasion. It’s a rare occasion when people detained after 2014, when Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, were released.
Read the full article here:
Ukrainians held prisoner for years in Russia return to Kyiv
Ten Ukrainians held prisoner for years have been released from Russian captivity with the Vatican's mediation
Ukraine says Russian missile attack on Dnipro injures seven
A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s city of Dnipro injured seven people, including a 15-year-old boy, and damaged scores of residential buildings, Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region said this morning.
One of the injured was hospitalised, Lisak said on Telegram.
He added that Russia’s drone and artillery attack on the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, which lies in Ukraine’s southeast, late on Sunday damaged five residential buildings, power and gas lines and other infrastructure.
The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had dropped more than 800 glide bombs in Ukraine in the past week alone as drone footage from Ukraine’s military released yesterday showed what appears to be bodies in a civilian area in the embattled eastern town of Toretsk, which has come under heavy Russian bombardment in recent days.
Glide bombs are heavy Soviet-era bombs fitted with precision guidance systems and launched from aircraft flying out of range of air defenses. The bombs weigh more than a ton and blast targets to smithereens, leaving a huge crater.
These winged explosives weighing up to 1,500 kilograms – and nicknamed the ‘building destroyer’ – have had a devastating impact wherever they have been used, writes Tom Watling. Kyiv is battling them as best it can but needs Western allies to step up and provide more weapons, air defences and ammunition.
The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine
Winged explosives weighing up to 1,500 kilograms – and nicknamed the ‘building destroyer’ – have had a devastating impact wherever they have been used, writes Tom Watling. Kyiv is battling them as best it can but needs Western allies to step up and provide more weapons, air defences and ammunition
Infant injured as Russia attacks Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv
Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s two largest cities on Sunday, with missile fragments falling on a suburban Kyiv apartment building and a guided bomb killing one person in Kharkiv.
In Kyiv’s Obolon suburb, the local military administration said falling fragments from a Russian missile started a fire and damaged balconies on a 14-storey apartment building yesterday.
Emergency services, writing on Telegram, said five women were treated for stress, and mayor Vitali Klitschko said 10 residents had been evacuated.
Emergency services posted a picture online showing at least four blackened balconies.
The head of the military administration of Kyiv region said missile fragments had also fallen outside the capital, causing injuries and damage, though no details were provided.
Russian forces were prevented from advancing on Kyiv in the early weeks of the February 2022 invasion and were redeployed along the 1,000km (600-mile) front line in the east.
Attacks on Kyiv are less frequent than other cities, although the capital endured a series of assaults in March. Kharkiv has come under regular attack, but military analysts say the frequency has dipped since the United States authorised Ukrainian use of its weapons on certain Russian targets.
In Kharkiv, which never fell into Russian hands in the early stages of the war, a guided bomb started a fire and killed a delivery service driver outside a depot yesterday.
Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said nine people were injured, including an 8-month-old infant. Pictures posted online showed the depot and trucks outside it badly damaged.
More than 28 months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces maintain regular attacks on Ukrainian cities as well as on energy infrastructure.
Russia used over 800 glide bombs on Ukraine in the past week, says Zelensky
Russian forces have used more than 800 glide bombs in the past week to hit Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said last night. The Ukrainian war-time president shared photos of the Russian strikes on the besieged country’s cities – Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Odesa, Sumy, Kherson, Donetsk and Kharkiv.
“This week alone, Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine. Against our cities and communities, against our people, against everything that makes life normal,” he said on X.
Calling for increased aerial support to intercept these bombs, Mr Zelensky said: “Ukraine needs the necessary means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, including Russian combat aircraft, wherever they are. This step is essential. Clear decisions are needed to help protect our people. Long-range strikes and modern air defense are the foundation for stopping the daily Russian terror.”
Ukrainian shelling wounds boy, four, and teenage girl, says Russian official
Russia-appointed officials in Donetsk, which is partially occupied and illegally annexed by Moscow, said that Ukrainian shelling on Sunday wounded a 4-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. According to Russia’s Emergencies Ministry, four of its staff also came under shelling Sunday as they attempted to put out a fire in the Kremlin-occupied local capital, also called Donetsk. The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday reported its forces overnight shot down three dozen Ukrainian drones over six regions in Russia’s southwest. It later said that a total of 72 were downed on Saturday and during the night. Debris from one drone fell on a village in the Kursk region, blowing out windows and damaging roofs and fences, according to a Telegram post by regional Gov. Aleksey Smirnov.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments