Russia has launched its biggest aerial attack on Ukraine of the war so far as president Volodymyr Zelensky has once again called for more pressure on Putin.
Some 477 drones were launched with 60 missiles of various types across Ukraine, where air raid alerts sounded all night long, the president said, as he accused Russia of “targeting everything that sustains life.”
A child was injured as a residential building in Smila, central Ukraine, was struck and Zelensky mourned an F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, who died after destroying seven aerial targets. An investigation has been launched into the circumstances of his death.
“Moscow will not stop as long as it has the capability to launch massive strikes. Just this week alone, there have been more than 114 missiles, over 1,270 drones, and nearly 1,100 glide bombs,” Zelensky said in his statement.
“Putin long ago decided he would keep waging war, despite the world's calls for peace. This war must be brought to an end — pressure on the aggressor is needed, and so is protection. Protection from ballistic and other missiles, from drones, and from terror.”
Key Points
- Watch: Russia launches biggest air attack on Ukraine since start of war
- 537 aerial weapons launched at Ukraine
- Ukraine F-16 pilot killed in large-scale Russian attack
- At least six dead after Russia's record-breaking aerial attack
Watch: Russia launches biggest air attack on Ukraine since start of war
19:00
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Bryony Gooch
Ranked: Russia's top five heaviest airstrikes on Ukraine
18:30
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Bryony Gooch
- 29 June 2025 - 537 drones and missiles
- 9 June 2025 - 499 drones and missiles
- 1 June 2025 - 479 drones and missiles
- 17 June 2025 - 472 drones and missiles
- 6 June 2025 - 452 drones and missiles
In pictures: Explosions over Ukraine last night
18:01
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Bryony Gooch
Russia claims it's shot down three Ukrainian drones overnight
17:51
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Bryony Gooch
Russia's Defense Ministry said it had shot down three Ukrainian drones overnight.
Two people were wounded in another Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Bryansk in western Russia, regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said Sunday morning, adding that seven more Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the region.
Sunday's attacks follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's comments two days ago that Moscow is ready for a fresh round of direct peace talks in Istanbul.
Two recent rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and yielded no progress on reaching a settlement.
Russia claims it has control over Novoukrainka village
17:41
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Bryony Gooch
Russia has now claimed that it has taken control of the village of Novoukrainka in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
Russian forces have been slowly grinding forward at some points on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, though their incremental gains have been costly in terms of troop casualties and damaged armor. In other developments, Russia's foreign intelligence chief, Sergei Naryshkin, said he had spoken on the phone with his U.S. counterpart, CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
"I had a phone call with my American counterpart and we reserved for each other the possibility to call at any time and discuss issues of interest to us," Naryshkin said in remarks to state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin, who posted them on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
In pictures: War amputee veteran Oleksandr Dashko swims in the 'Oceanman Kyiv,' a 5 km swim race
17:31
,
Bryony Gooch
Watch: Zelensky warns Russia could attack Nato country within next five years
17:19
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Bryony Gooch
At least six dead after Russia's record-breaking aerial attack
17:07
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Bryony Gooch
Three people were killed in each of the drone strikes in the Kherson, Kharkiv and the Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to the three governors.
Another person was killed by an airstrike in Kostyantynivka, local officials said.
In addition to aerial attacks, a man died when Russian troops shelled the city of Kherson, and the body of a 70-year-old woman was found under the rubble of a nine-story building hit by Russian shelling in the Zaporizhzhia region.
In pictures: Ukrainians recover after worst attack of war so far
16:50
,
Bryony Gooch
537 aerial weapons launched at Ukraine
16:41
,
Bryony Gooch
Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine's air force said.
Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, probably having been electronically jammed.
Zelensky reported the air raid alert signalled all night across Ukraine.
Watch: Trump says he will look at giving Ukraine patriot missiles as he calls on Putin to end war
16:31
,
Bryony Gooch
Ukraine F-16 pilot killed in large-scale Russian attack
16:23
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Bryony Gooch
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot died in a crash while repelling a Russian air attack that involved hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, authorities said on Sunday, as Moscow intensifies night-time air barrages in the fourth year of war.
“Tragically, while repelling the attack, our F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko died,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Today, he destroyed 7 aerial targets.
“My condolences to his family and brothers-in-arms. I have instructed that all the circumstances of his death be investigated. Ukrainian aviation is heroically protecting our skies. I am grateful to everyone who is defending Ukraine.
Zelensky called for more support from Washington and Western allies to bolster Ukraine's air defences after the attack, which damaged homes and infrastructure across the country and injured at least 12 people, according to local authorities.
In pictures: Ukraine recovers after night of heavy shelling
16:16
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Bryony Gooch
The myriad countries arming Russia and Ukraine – and the billions it costs
16:08
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Bryony Gooch
Donald Trump has suggested that the US could send more Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, and has not ruled out providing the war-torn country with a new military support package.
Speaking at the Nato summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, the president said “we’ll see what happens” when asked whether Washington would add to the $8 billion pledged by Nato allies.
"They do want to have the anti-missile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots," the US president said. "And we're going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too. We're supplying them to Israel, and they're very effective, 100 per cent effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.”
Alex Croft reports:
Ukraine withdraws from Ottawa Convention which bans anti-personnel mines
16:01
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Bryony Gooch
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree on the country's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the production and use of anti-personnel mines, the presidential website said on Sunday.
Ukraine ratified the convention in 2005.
"Support the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to withdraw Ukraine from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of September 18, 1997," the decree, published on Zelenski's website, stated.
A senior Ukrainian lawmaker, Roman Kostenko, said that parliamentary approval is still needed to withdraw from the treaty.
"This is a step that the reality of war has long demanded. Russia is not a party to this Convention and is massively using mines against our military and civilians," Kostenko, secretary of the Ukrainian parliament's committee on national security, defence and intelligence, said on his Facebook page.
"We cannot remain tied down in an environment where the enemy has no restrictions," he added, saying that the legislative decision must definitively restore Ukraine's right to effectively defend its territory.
It remains unclear whether this will be debated in parliament.
Watch: Russia launches biggest air attack on Ukraine since start of war
15:50
,
Bryony Gooch
Russia launches biggest aerial attack of the war so far
15:41
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Bryony Gooch
Russia launched its biggest aerial attack on Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said on Sunday, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the three-year-old war.
Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine's air force said.
Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, probably having been electronically jammed.
Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for Ukraine's air force, told the Associated Press that the overnight onslaught was "the most massive air strike" on the country, taking into account both drones and various types of missiles.
North Korea's deployment to Ukraine will be 'significant battlefield inflection' – ISW
Friday 27 June 2025 11:00
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Alexander Butler
North Korea’s deployment of its troops to Ukrainian territory will represent “significant battlefield inflection”, the Institute for the Study of War.
“The North Korean and Russian military commands authorising the deployment of North Korean forces to Ukrainian territory would mark a significant battlefield inflection that may improve Russian forces' ability to sustain simultaneous offensive operations in multiple directions, which the Russian military has traditionally struggled to conduct,” the US-based think tank said in its latest assessment.
According to the South Korean intelligence, North Korea may deploy an unspecified number of additional North Korean forces to Russia to fight against Ukraine as early as July or August 2025 and that North Korea continues to arm Russia with artillery ammunition and missiles.
Russian missile attack kills three
Friday 27 June 2025 10:54
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Alexander Butler
A Russian missile attack killed three people and wounded at least 14 in the city of Samar in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region on Friday, the governor said.
This was the second Russian missile attack in the last three days on the industrial city in central Ukraine. Regional officials gave no immediate details on damage.
Watch: Trump shows concern for worried BBC Ukraine reporter during press conference
Friday 27 June 2025 10:30
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Alexander Butler
Ukraine and Russia battle it out in war's hottest sector Sumy. Here's what we know so far
Friday 27 June 2025 10:00
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Alexander Butler
Ukraine has announced it has pushed back Russian forces on the battlefield and said they have prevented an advance into the northern Sumy region, which has been one of the hottest fighting areas along the war frontline.
Ukraine's top military commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Ukrainian successes in Sumy have prevented Russia from deploying about 50,000 Russian troops, including elite airborne and marine brigades, to other areas of the frontline.
Here’s what we know about the region caught in heavy attacks.
- Sumy, the city which is the capital of the Ukrainian region of the same name, had a prewar population of around 250,000.
- It lies about 20km (12 miles) from the frontline. Russia’s push into the region earlier this year compelled Ukraine to strengthen its defences there.
- Sumy borders Russia’s Kursk region, where a surprise Ukrainian incursion last year captured a pocket of land in the first occupation of Russian territory since the Second World War.
- The long border is vulnerable to Ukrainian incursions, Russian president Vladimir Putin said, and creating a buffer zone could help Russia prevent further cross-border attacks there.
- General Syrskyi said a special defence group has been formed to improve security in Sumy and surrounding communities, with a focus on improving fortifications and accelerating construction of defensive barriers.
Britain must ‘actively prepare’ for a war on home soil, major government review warns
Friday 27 June 2025 09:30
,
Alexander Butler
The myriad countries arming Russia and Ukraine – and the billions it costs
Friday 27 June 2025 09:00
,
Alexander Butler
Ukraine has halted Russia's advance in the northern Sumy region, commander says
Friday 27 June 2025 08:30
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Arpan Rai
Ukrainian forces have halted Russia's recent advance into the northern Sumy region and have stabilised the front line near the border with Russia, Ukraine's top military commander said yesterday.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces, said that Ukrainian successes in Sumy have prevented Russia from deploying about 50,000 Russian troops, including elite airborne and marine brigades, to other areas of the frontline.
Sumy, the city which is the capital of the Ukrainian region of the same name, had a prewar population of around 250,000. It lies about 20km (12 miles) from the frontline.
Russia's push into the region earlier this year compelled Ukraine to strengthen its defences there.
Traffic restricted in Russia's Volgograd after Ukraine's 'massive' drone attack
Friday 27 June 2025 08:15
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Arpan Rai
Traffic on the Don River in the Kalachevsky district of Russia's Volgograd region was temporarily restricted this morning to eliminate wreckage from a "massive" Ukrainian drone attack, the regional governor's administration said.
"Sappers are at work," Volgograd governor Andrei Bocharov said. He added that there were no injuries as a result of the attack.
It was not immediately clear whether the bridge on the Don River, Europe's fifth-longest, was damaged.
The Russian defence ministry said in a post on Telegram that its air defence units destroyed 39 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Russian territory and the Crimean Peninsula, including 13 over the Volgograd region.