Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces hit apartments in Kyiv with overnight drone attack, officials say
Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire on Wednesday after Trump spoke separately to Putin and Zelensky
Russia has launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv, hitting apartment buildings and sparking several fires throughout Ukraine’s capital despite agreeing to a limited ceasefire, officials have said.
Emergency services were dispatched to Kyiv’s historic Podil district after drones hit two high-rise apartment buildings there and started fires, said Timur Tkachenko, the head of the capital’s military administration.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged people to stay in shelters, but said there were no immediate reports of injuries. Kyiv, its surrounding region and the eastern half of Ukraine were under air raid alerts on Saturday night.
It came a day after Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing three members of the same family and wounding 14 others, according to officials, who said residential buildings, cars and communal buildings were set on fire.
Kyiv and Moscow agreed in principle on Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after US president Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders, though it remains to be seen what possible targets would be off limits to attack.
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Russia warns of 'symmetrical response' to Ukrainian attacks on energy facilities
Russia reserves the right to a "symmetrical response" to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Friday of blowing up a Russian gas pumping station in a border area where Ukrainian troops have been retreating. Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure in three years of fighting, and Ukraine has struck energy facilities in Russia.
"As in 2022, provocations are being used again with the aim of disrupting the negotiation process. We are clearly warning that if the Kyiv regime continues its destructive line, the Russian Federation reserves the right to respond, including with a symmetrical response," the ministry said.
Zelensky visits Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Ukraine's Donetsk region on Saturday, where he met commanders of drone units near the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian troops have for months been fending off Russian assaults around the city, where Moscow's forces have been slowly advancing to try to eventually capture the entire region.
"I visited the command post of the Tactical Group Pokrovsk and met with the commanders of the Drone Line, which united the finest unmanned systems units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Zelenskiy wrote on X.
"I received a report on the defense of the Pokrovsk direction, the operational situation, and the progress of the missions. I honored our warriors with state awards."
Drones have transformed warfare since the start of Russia's February 2022 invasion, and Ukraine has sought to elevate drone units and boost domestic production.
This month, Kyiv's defence ministry said it would purchase around 4.5 million first-person view (FPV) drones in 2025, mostly from domestic producers, more than doubling last year's rate.
South Korean minister says North should not be rewarded for wrongdoings in Ukraine
South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said on Saturday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia must stop, and North Korea should not be rewarded for its wrongdoings in the course of bringing about the end of the war in Ukraine.
Cho also said it is important for South Korea, Japan and China to faithfully carry out UN sanctions against North Korea, and to put efforts into stopping North Korean provocations and bring about its complete denuclearisation.
Cho was meeting his Chinese and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on Saturday, in the first such trilateral talks since 2023.
Three killed in Russian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia
Three people were killed and 12 wounded in a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said, in an attack that underlined Moscow's intention to continue aerial strikes despite agreeing to a limited ceasefire.
Regional head Ivan Fedorov said on Saturday that "residential buildings, private cars, and social infrastructure facilities were set on fire" in the attack on Friday night, and published photos showing emergency services scouring the rubble of damaged residential buildings for survivors.
The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 179 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday.
It said 100 were intercepted and another 63 "lost," likely having been electronically jammed.
Officials in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions also reported fires breaking out due to the falling debris from intercepted drones.
Russia's Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, said its air defence systems shot down 47 Ukrainian drones.
What happened on Friday?
- Ukraine accused Russia of bombing its own gas infrastructure in an effort to undermine ceasefire talks.
- Putin’s top security adviser met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and discussed Ukraine.
- The US is said to be seeking new terms for US access to minerals in Ukraine to include control over Kyiv’s nuclear power plants, the Financial Times reported.
- Britain is set to accelerate plans next week for a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine, including a discussion about how it can operate and the structure.
- Zelensky announced the ‘coalition of the willing’, the countries willing to support Ukrainian peacekeeping efforts, will meet in Paris next week.
- Donald Trump said a full ceasefire would come “very soon”, claiming that negotiators were “dividing up” Ukrainian land.
Starmer: Putin is trying to delay and add conditions to ceasefire
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Vladimir Putin of attempting to “delay and add conditions” to any ceasefire in Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson said on Friday.
The prime minister spoke to EU chiefs along with the leaders of Turkey, Norway and Iceland, the spokesperson said.
“The Prime Minister began by updating on his recent call with President Zelenskyy, and said it was clear President Putin was trying to delay and add conditions to any meaningful ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
“The Prime Minister also outlined the new military sub-planning groups, across land, sea, air, regeneration and reconstruction, which would continue discussions across three intensive planning days next week,” they added.
The leaders discussed the importance of keeping up investment in military equipment to outpace any European threats.
Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that “all nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine” after reports that his US counterpart Donald Trump said an American takeover of the country’s nuclear power would offer the “best protection” for it.
In their first conversation since Mr Trump verbally attacked Mr Zelensky in the White House and had him thrown out, the US president reportedly suggested Washington take ownership of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
But Kyiv says the discussions referred only to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian occupation.
Jane Dalton reports:
Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations
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Full report: Moscow accused of bombing own gas infrastructure to undermine ceasefire deal
Moscow has been accused of bombing its own gas infrastructure in order to sabotage an energy ceasefire deal with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s general staff has denied that its forces struck a key gas pumping station in Sudzha, and instead said it had been “repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves”.
The army accused Russia of seeking to pin the blame on Ukraine with “groundless” accusations its military was involved – all to undermine any truce and longer peace deal currently being negotiated by Donald Trump and the US.
“The Russian federation is intensifying its discrediting campaign against Ukraine,” it said.
Athena Stavrou reports:
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