Russia launches largest missile, drone barrage on Kyiv since war in Ukraine began
Kyiv (AP): Waves of drones and missiles targeted Kyiv overnight in the largest aerial assault since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began more than three years ago, officials said on Friday, amid a renewed Russian push to capture more of its neighbour's land.
Hours after the barrage that killed one person and wounded at least 26 others, including a child, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a “very important and productive” phone call with US President Donald Trump.
The two leaders discussed how Ukrainian air defences might be strengthened, possible joint weapons production between the US and Ukraine, and broader US-led efforts to end the war with Russia, according to a statement by Zelenksyy.
Asked on Friday night by reporters about the call, Trump said, “We had a very good call, I think.”
When asked about finding a way to end the fighting, Trump said: “I don't know. I can't tell you whether or not that's going to happen.”
The US has paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine's main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack. Zelenskyy says plans are afoot to build up Ukraine's domestic arms industry, but scaling up will take time.
The seven-hour bombardment of Kyiv caused severe damage across multiple districts of the capital in a seven-hour onslaught, authorities said. Blasts lit up the night sky and echoed across the city as air raid sirens wailed. The blue lights of emergency vehicles reflected off high-rise buildings, and debris blocked city streets.
“It was a harsh, sleepless night,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Less than a week ago, Russia launched what was then the largest aerial assault of the war. That strategy has coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure.
Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine during the night, the country's air force said. The majority were Shahed drones, but Russia also launched 11 missiles in the attack.
Alya Shahlai, a 23-year-old Kyiv wedding photographer, said that her home was destroyed in the attack.
“We were all in the (basement) shelter because it was so loud, staying home would have been suicidal,” she told The Associated Press. “We went down 10 minutes before and then there was a loud explosion and the lights went out in the shelter, people were panicking.”
Five ambulances were damaged while responding to calls, officials said, and emergency services removed more than 300 tons of rubble.
Trump, Zelenskyy talks
In Friday's call, Zelenskyy said he congratulated Trump and the American people on Independence Day and thanked the United States for its continued support.
They discussed a possible future meeting between their teams to explore ways of enhancing Ukraine's protection against air attacks, Zelenskyy said.
He added that they talked in detail about defense industry capabilities and direct joint projects with the US, particularly in drone technology. They also exchanged views on mutual procurement, investment, and diplomatic cooperation with international partners, Zelenskyy said.
Peace efforts have been fruitless so far. Recent direct peace talks have led only to sporadic exchanges of prisoners of war, wounded troops and the bodies of fallen soldiers. No date has been set for further negotiations.
Ukrainian officials and the Russian Defence Ministry said another prisoner swap took place Friday, though neither side said how many soldiers were involved.
Zelenskyy said most of the Ukrainians had been in Russian captivity since 2022. The Ukrainian soldiers were classified as “wounded and seriously ill.”
I'm very disappointed
The attack on Kyiv began the same day a phone call took place between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked if he made any progress during his call with Putin on a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine, Trump said: “No, I didn't make any progress with him today at all.”
“I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin because I don't think he's there. I don't think he's looking to stop (the fighting), and that's too bad,” Trump said.
According to Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, the Russian leader emphasised that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict.
“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters after the call.
Russia's army crossed the border on February 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly called out Russian disinformation efforts.
Constant buzzing of drones
The Ukrainian response needs to be speedy as Russia escalates its aerial attacks. Russia launched 5,438 drones at Ukraine in June, a new monthly record, according to official data collated by The Associated Press. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said earlier this week that Russia also launched more than 330 missiles, including nearly 80 ballistic missiles, at Ukrainian towns and cities that month.
Throughout the night, AP journalists in Kyiv heard the constant buzzing of drones overhead and the sound of explosions and intense machine gun fire as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the aerial assault.
“Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media platform X. “One of the worst so far.”
Ukraine's Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko described “families running into metro stations, basements, underground parking garages, mass destruction in the heart of our capital”.
“What Kyiv endured last night, cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror,” she wrote on X.
Kyiv was the primary target of the countrywide attack. At least 14 people were hospitalised, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Zelenskyy called the Kyiv attack “cynical.” In Moscow, the Defence Ministry claimed its forces targeted factories producing drones and other military equipment in Kyiv.
Russia strikes 5 Ukrainian regions
Ukrainian air defences shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles. Another 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed.
Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones. Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites.
In addition to the capital, the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions also sustained damage, Zelenskyy said.
Emergency services reported damage in at least five of Kyiv's 10 districts.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
