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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv strikes Russian skyscrapers in major drone attack 1,000km from frontline

Putin says he is open to talks with Donald Trump, saying ‘we will have things to discuss’

Tom Watling ,Stuti Mishra
Sunday 22 December 2024 10:12 GMT
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Zelensky says Ukraine could temporarily cede territory in exchange for Nato membership

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The Russian city of Kazan suffered a major drone attack from Ukrainian forces on Saturday, despite being 1,000km (620 miles) from the frontline

Residential buildings were damaged and the airport was temporarily shut down, after the drone smashed into a high-rise building and damaged a skyscraper.

Videos posted on Russian social media networks showed the damage and a fireball emerging from the building, while local authorities said there were no casualties.

Ukraine’s air defences downed 52 of the 103 Russian drones launched overnight, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday. The military said on Telegram that it had lost track of 44 drones, and another had left the territory of Ukraine to Belarus.

Meanwhile, Putin’s forces have captured the village of Kostiantynopolske in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, just six miles from the city of Kurakhove, which they have stormed and are threatening to encircle.

Earlier this week, Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he should have invaded Ukraine earlier as he used an end-of-year press conference to double down on his decision to start the war.

Russia and Ukraine exchange missile attacks, officials say, killing at least 1 person in Kyiv

Russia and Ukraine exchange missile attacks, officials say, killing at least 1 person in Kyiv

Ukrainian officials say Russia has launched several ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, killing at least one person and injuring nine others

Tom Watling20 December 2024 16:00

Russian chemical weapons chief Kirillov is buried with military honours

A Russian general assassinated by Ukraine was buried with full military honours on Friday as Moscow launched an apparent revenge attack on what it said was a Ukrainian intelligence service command centre in Kyiv.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was the most senior Russian officer to be killed inside Russia by Ukraine.

He was killed outside his Moscow apartment building on Tuesday along with his assistant when a bomb attached to an electric scooter went off in an attack for which Ukraine‘s SBU security service took responsibility.

State news agency RIA said Kirillov was buried in a ceremony outside Moscow attended by Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

It said the ceremony had taken place at a Defence Ministry memorial complex called the Pantheon of the Defenders of the Fatherland.

Video footage of the funeral showed an honour guard carrying a coffin draped in the national flag and Kirillov’s cap on top of it as solemn music played. The honour guard then fired shots into the air in a snow-covered cemetery as the national anthem played and mourners looked on.

Tom Watling20 December 2024 15:08

Two AP journalists in Ukraine and the Mideast break down the wars they covered in 2024

Tom Watling20 December 2024 14:28

Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia

Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia

Ukraine’s security service spy chief says they have killed ‘very many’ Russian conspirators

Tom Watling20 December 2024 14:00

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