Ukraine’s air defence systems repelled Russia’s fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks, officials said, as Moscow targeted the capital with what appeared to be a new unidentified type of low-flying drone.
Russia has launched “systematic attacks” and rained missiles and drones across the capital region, looking for new tactics to make battlefield gains, Kyiv’s military head said.
Ukrainian defence systems destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles that Russia had launched overnight to target 10 regions in Ukraine.
In aerial bombardments this weekend, the Russian military has launched not only missiles and kamikaze drones of the now-familiar Shahed-136 type but also deployed another new drone of an unknown type, according to the military analytical website Defence Express.
It said the drone flew at a low altitude of just 20-30 metres, analysing photographs of the weapon used in the attack.
The attack on Kyiv comes after Ukrainian officials confirmed that former MP Iryna Farion, a linguist who was well known for her campaigns defending the country’s language, had been shot dead in the city of Lviv. A manhunt is underway to find the attacker.
Key Points
- Russia targeted Kyiv with new-type of low-flying drones - report
- Sirens sound in Kyiv amid Russian attack
- Controversial champion of Ukrainian language shot dead in Lviv
- Ukraine’s biggest music festival returns for first time since Russian invasion
- Trump says he had a ‘very good phone call' with Zelensky
Recap: Zelensky calls on Starmer to ‘show leadership’ and allow Ukrainian strikes on Russia
08:39
Tara Cobham
Volodymyr Zelensky used his historic address to the UK cabinet to urge Sir Keir Starmer to “show leadership” and let Ukraine use British weapons for strikes deep inside Russia.
The Ukrainian president on Friday became the first foreign leader to address the cabinet in person since Bill Clinton in 1997, calling for support for his country’s “long-range capability”.
In his address to the cabinet, Mr Zelensky said that “if the restriction on Western weapons is lifted” it would help Kyiv to strengthen its defences and secure its frontline positions.
Archie Mitchell and Tom Watling report:
Russia targeted Kyiv with new-type of low-flying drones - report
07:33
Shweta Sharma
Russia appears to have targeted Kyiv with a new type of drone that flew at a very low altitude, according to analysis of debris from the fallen weapon.
In aerial bombardments this weekend, the Russian military has launched not only missiles and kamikaze drones of the now-familiar Shahed-136 type but also deployed another new drone of an unknown type, according to the military analytical website Defence Express.
It said the drone flew at a low altitude of just 20-30 metres, analysing photographs of the weapon used in the attack.
The unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had “a possible wingspan of more than 4 metres, beam plumage, a push rotor, and a square fuselage,” it said.
The drone’s fragments are still being investigated, the website said.
Ukraine defends against fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks
07:13
Shweta Sharma
Ukraine’s air defence systems repelled Russia’s fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks, officials said, as Moscow targeted the capital with a new unidentified type of low-flying drone.
Russia has launched “systematic attacks” and rained missiles and drones across the capital region, looking for new tactics to make battlefield gains, Kyiv’s military head said.
No casualties or significant damage have been reported, Serhiy Popko, head of the Ukrainian capital’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
“These systematic attacks... with drones, once again prove that the invader is actively looking for an opportunity to strike Kyiv,” Mr Popko said. “They’re testing new tactics, looking for new approach routes to the capital, trying to expose the location of our air defence.”
Ukraine‘s air force said on Telegram that its air defence systems destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles that Russia had launched overnight. The weapons, the air force said, targeted 10 of Ukraine‘s regions.
It was not immediately clear how many drones were launched at Kyiv.
Russia launched three Iskander ballistic missiles, Ukraine‘s air force said, without saying what happened to them.
Recap: Zelensky becomes first foreign leader to address UK cabinet for nearly 30 years
06:30
Joe Middleton
Ukraine’s biggest music festival returns for first time since Russian invasion
05:30
Joe Middleton
This weekend 25,000 music lovers are gathering for Ukraine’s biggest music festival, an annual event that hasn’t been held since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Journalist Paul Niland shared a video on X of a large crowd watching the Ukrainian rock band BoomBox on stage. The billing this year will understandably mostly be made up of domestic talent, though the event has previously had headline acts from global stars like Kasabian, The Chemical Brothers and Liam Gallagher.
Speaking to the BBC, event organiser Vlad Yaremchuk explained how the festival is being conducted in a car park outside one of Kyiv’s biggest shopping malls – so if a Russian air attack does take place, “there will be more than enough space to get everyone evacuated quickly -- and we’re talking minutes”. The mall has a capacity of 100,000, he says.
So far the festival, running from Friday to Sunday, is going smoothly. It already had to be pushed back one week after the major aerial assault on Kyiv that hit a children’s hospital.
“We didn’t even expect to have a chance to do a festival while the war is still happening.” Yaremchuk says.
“The reality showed us that cultural events are still possible in wartime.”
Rare public protest in southern Russian over power cuts
04:50
Shweta Sharma
Residents outraged over frequent power cuts in southern Russia staged a rare public protest on Saturday as officials blamed blackouts on a heatwave.
Police arrested at least two people in the city of Krasnodar as protesters demanded relief from mass power outages in several regions.
The south of Russia has been affected by unusually hot weather and led to the shutdown of one of four power units at the Rostov nuclear power plant, the region’s largest, earlier this week.
The unit has been put back into operation since then.
“There has been abnormal heat in the Krasnodar region for a week now. The load on the energy system is colossal. I know and understand all the indignation of residents due to power outages,”
Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar region, said on the Telegram messaging app.He said power capacities were not currently sufficient to meet peak demand during the hot summer months.
It marked one of the rare incidents of protest in Russia where authorities have clamped down on any form of demonstration, especially politically-laced dissent, since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in February 2022, and public assemblies are very rare given the risk of arrest.
Death toll from Russian air strike on Mykolaiv rises to four
04:30
Joe Middleton
Ukrainian officials also confirmed that the death toll following a Russian strike on Friday on the city of Mykolaiv, had risen to four.
A child was among the victims, said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.
Writing about the Mykolaiv strike on social media, Mr Zelensky said that a projectile had hit a playground next to an apartment block.
“Russia proves every day with its terror that ‘pressure’ is not enough,” he said.
“This destruction of life must be stopped. We need new solutions to support our defences. Russia must feel the power of the world.”
Ukraine‘s air force said Russia had launched four missiles and 17 drones overnight, of which 13 drones had been shot down.
The attacks have left thousands of people without power or running water in the Poltava region of central Ukraine, governor Filip Pronin said.
Sirens sound in Kyiv amid Russian attack
04:29
Shweta Sharma
Ukraine’s air defence systems were engaged in repelling a Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday morning, Ukraine’s military said.
“Air defence systems are being activated on the approaches to Kyiv,” Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram.
Residents in the capital were ordered to stay in shelters until the air raid alarms were lifted.
Thousands of homes in central Ukraine were without power or running water after Russian strikes in the Poltava region amid Russia’s continuous attacks on Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure.
Meanwhile, a pulverising Russian onslaught in recent months has forced Kyiv’s troops to withdraw from some towns and villages in the eastern Donetsk region.
The latest targets are the mining town of Toretsk and the city of Pokrovsk, where Russia is stepping up its assaults.
Ukrainian forces repelled 20 and 27 attacks on those areas respectively over 24 hours, Ukraine‘s General Staff said Friday. That was almost double the number of assaults recorded at other hot spots along the frontline, it said.
Recap: Zelensky becomes first foreign leader to address UK cabinet for nearly 30 years
03:30
Joe Middleton
Three pro-Russian hackers arrested
01:30
Joe Middleton
Three pro-Russian hackers have been arrested for alleged cyberattacks against Spain and other NATO countries for terrorist purposes, Spanish police said on Saturday.
The suspects were detained for their alleged participation in distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyber attacks against public institutions and strategic sectors, the Civil Guard said.
It did not say if the three suspects, who have not been named, have been charged or detained
The cyberattacks were allegedly carried out against web pages of public and private organizations in the government sectors, critical infrastructures and essential services in countries which support Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, it said.
Police released a video on social media platform X of a raid at the home of one of the suspects in which a Soviet-era hammer and sickle flag was mounted on a wall.
Starmer’s words will be welcomed in Kyiv – but Zelensky needs action more than ever
Sunday 21 July 2024 00:30
Joe Middleton
The PM is keen to maintain Britain’s position as one of the world’s most vocal supporters of Ukraine – a role that will become even more important as backing from other powers begins to waver, writes Mary Dejevsky
Former MP shot in street
Saturday 20 July 2024 23:30
Joe Middleton
A Ukrainian former MP best known for her crusade to promote the Ukrainian language has died after being shot in the street by an unknown assailant.
Iryna Farion, 60, initially survived the assault in the western city of Lviv on Friday, but later died from her wounds in a hospital. A manhunt is currently underway for her attacker, who fled from the scene. Ukrainian officials said an investigation is being carried out and that the attack is being treated as an assassination.
“All available surveillance cameras are being worked on, witness interviews are ongoing and several districts are being surveyed. All leads are being investigated, including the one that leads to Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel Saturday.
“All necessary forces from the National Police of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Security Service have been deployed to search for the criminal.”
Farion served as a member of the Ukrainian parliament between 2012 and 2014, and was best known for her campaigns to promote the use of the Ukrainian language by Ukrainian officials who spoke Russian. She controversially criticised Russian-speaking members of Ukraine’s Azov regiment who defended the port city of Mariupol in the first days of the full-scale invasion.
Police are considering “personal animosity” toward the former MP due to her social and political activities as a likely motive behind the attack, said Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, who will oversee the investigation in Lviv.
US help
Saturday 20 July 2024 22:30
Joe Middleton
Ukraine is on its way to being able to “stand on its own feet” militarily, the US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country even if the U.S. were to withdraw its support under a different president.
Mr Blinken for the first time directly addressed the possibility that former President Donald Trump could win the November election and back away from commitments to Ukraine during his remarks on Friday.
The US, under President Joe Biden, has been the most important supporter of Ukraine’s more than two-year battle against invading Russian forces.
At least 6 dead and thousands without power as Russia continues strikes on Ukraine
Saturday 20 July 2024 21:30
Joe Middleton
At least two people were killed and three more injured after a Russian missile strike on infrastructure in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, said Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials confirmed that the death toll following a Russian strike Friday on the city of Mykolaiv, had risen to four. A child was among the victims, said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.
Writing about the Mykolaiv strike on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a projectile had hit a playground next to an apartment block.
Ukraine’s biggest music festival returns for first time since Russian invasion
Saturday 20 July 2024 20:31
Joe Middleton
This weekend 25,000 music lovers are gathering for Ukraine’s biggest music festival, an annual event that hasn’t been held since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Journalist Paul Niland shared a video on X of a large crowd watching the Ukrainian rock band BoomBox on stage. The billing this year will understandably mostly be made up of domestic talent, though the event has previously had headline acts from global stars like Kasabian, The Chemical Brothers and Liam Gallagher.
Speaking to the BBC, event organiser Vlad Yaremchuk explained how the festival is being conducted in a car park outside one of Kyiv’s biggest shopping malls – so if a Russian air attack does take place, “there will be more than enough space to get everyone evacuated quickly -- and we’re talking minutes”. The mall has a capacity of 100,000, he says.
So far the festival, running from Friday to Sunday, is going smoothly. It already had to be pushed back one week after the major aerial assault on Kyiv that hit a children’s hospital.
“We didn’t even expect to have a chance to do a festival while the war is still happening.” Yaremchuk says.
“The reality showed us that cultural events are still possible in wartime.”
Recap: Zelensky calls on Starmer to ‘show leadership'
Saturday 20 July 2024 19:30
Joe Middleton
Volodymyr Zelensky used his historic address to the UK cabinet to urge Sir Keir Starmer to “show leadership” and let Ukraine use British weapons for strikes deep inside Russia.
The Ukrainian president on Friday became the first foreign leader to address the cabinet in person since Bill Clinton in 1997, calling for support for his country’s “long-range capability”.
In his address to the cabinet, Mr Zelensky said that “if the restriction on Western weapons is lifted” it would help Kyiv to strengthen its defences and secure its frontline positions.
Read the full story here:
Three pro-Russian hackers arrested
Saturday 20 July 2024 18:30
Joe Middleton
Three pro-Russian hackers have been arrested for alleged cyberattacks against Spain and other NATO countries for terrorist purposes, Spanish police said on Saturday.
The suspects were detained for their alleged participation in distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyber attacks against public institutions and strategic sectors, the Civil Guard said.
It did not say if the three suspects, who have not been named, have been charged or detained
The cyberattacks were allegedly carried out against web pages of public and private organizations in the government sectors, critical infrastructures and essential services in countries which support Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, it said.
Police released a video on social media platform X of a raid at the home of one of the suspects in which a Soviet-era hammer and sickle flag was mounted on a wall.
Death toll from Russian air strike on Mykolaiv rises to four
Saturday 20 July 2024 17:30
Joe Middleton
Ukrainian officials also confirmed that the death toll following a Russian strike on Friday on the city of Mykolaiv, had risen to four.
A child was among the victims, said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.
Writing about the Mykolaiv strike on social media, Mr Zelensky said that a projectile had hit a playground next to an apartment block.
“Russia proves every day with its terror that ‘pressure’ is not enough,” he said.
“This destruction of life must be stopped. We need new solutions to support our defences. Russia must feel the power of the world.”
Ukraine‘s air force said Russia had launched four missiles and 17 drones overnight, of which 13 drones had been shot down.
The attacks have left thousands of people without power or running water in the Poltava region of central Ukraine, governor Filip Pronin said.
Residents protest over power cuts in Russian city
Saturday 20 July 2024 16:30
Joe Middleton
Residents angry over recent power cuts in southern Russia staged a rare public protest on Saturday in the city of Krasnodar, posts on social media said, as the local governor blamed a heatwave for causing the blackouts.
The south of Russia has been affected by unusually hot weather that has caused mass power outages in several regions and led to the shutdown earlier this week of one of four power units at the Rostov nuclear power plant, the region’s largest.
The unit has been put back into operation since then.
“There has been abnormal heat in the Krasnodar region for a week now. The load on the energy system is colossal. I know and understand all the indignation of residents due to power outages,” Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar region, said on the Telegram messaging app.
He said power capacities were not currently sufficient to meet peak demand during the hot summer months.
One video posted on the Baza Telegram channel appeared to show police making at least two arrests during Saturday’s protest.
Russian authorities have clamped down on any protest activity, especially politically laced dissent, since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in February 2022, and public protests are very rare given the risk of arrest.
US help
Saturday 20 July 2024 15:18
Chris Stevenson
Ukraine is on its way to being able to "stand on its own feet" militarily, the US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country even if the U.S. were to withdraw its support under a different president.
Mr Blinken for the first time directly addressed the possibility that former President Donald Trump could win the November election and back away from commitments to Ukraine during his remarks on Friday. The US, under President Joe Biden, has been the most important supporter of Ukraine's more than two-year battle against invading Russian forces.
Russia protest
Saturday 20 July 2024 14:47
Chris Stevenson
Residents angry over recent power cuts in southern Russia staged a rare public protest on Saturday in the city of Krasnodar, posts on social media said, as the local governor blamed a heatwave for causing the blackouts.
The south of Russia has been affected by unusually hot weather that has caused mass power outages in several regions and led to the shutdown earlier this week of one of four power units at the Rostov nuclear power plant, the region's largest.
The unit has been put back into operation since then.
"There has been abnormal heat in the Krasnodar region for a week now. The load on the energy system is colossal. I know and understand all the indignation of residents due to power outages," Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar region, said on the Telegram messaging app.
He said power capacities were not currently sufficient to meet peak demand during the hot summer months.
One video posted on the Baza Telegram channel appeared to show police making at least two arrests during Saturday's protest.
Russian authorities have clamped down on any protest activity, especially politically laced dissent, since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in February 2022, and public protests are very rare given the risk of arrest.
Hackers arrested
Saturday 20 July 2024 14:25
Chris Stevenson
Three pro-Russian hackers have been arrested for alleged cyberattacks against Spain and other NATO countries for terrorist purposes, Spanish police said on Saturday.
The suspects were detained for their alleged participation in distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyber attacks against public institutions and strategic sectors, the Civil Guard said.
It did not say if the three suspects, who have not been named, have been charged or detained
The cyberattacks were allegedly carried out against web pages of public and private organizations in the government sectors, critical infrastructures and essential services in countries which support Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, it said.
Police released a video on social media platform X of a raid at the home of one of the suspects in which a Soviet-era hammer and sickle flag was mounted on a wall.
Former MP shot in street
Saturday 20 July 2024 14:04
Chris Stevenson
A Ukrainian former MP best known for her crusade to promote the Ukrainian language has died after being shot in the street by an unknown assailant.
Iryna Farion, 60, initially survived the assault in the western city of Lviv on Friday, but later died from her wounds in a hospital. A manhunt is currently underway for her attacker, who fled from the scene. Ukrainian officials said an investigation is being carried out and that the attack is being treated as an assassination.
"All available surveillance cameras are being worked on, witness interviews are ongoing and several districts are being surveyed. All leads are being investigated, including the one that leads to Russia," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel Saturday.
"All necessary forces from the National Police of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Security Service have been deployed to search for the criminal."
Farion served as a member of the Ukrainian parliament between 2012 and 2014, and was best known for her campaigns to promote the use of the Ukrainian language by Ukrainian officials who spoke Russian. She controversially criticised Russian-speaking members of Ukraine's Azov regiment who defended the port city of Mariupol in the first days of the full-scale invasion.
Police are considering "personal animosity" toward the former MP due to her social and political activities as a likely motive behind the attack, said Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, who will oversee the investigation in Lviv.
Saturday 20 July 2024 13:46
Chris Stevenson
Ukraine's air force have said that Russia had launched four missiles and 17 drones overnight, of which 13 drones had been shot down.
The attacks have left thousands of people without power or running water in the Poltava region of central Ukraine, Governor Filip Pronin said. Russia has continuously targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leading to blackouts across the country.
Death toll of Russian strikes
Saturday 20 July 2024 13:24
Chris Stevenson
At least two people were killed and three more injured after a Russian missile strike on infrastructure in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, the local governor, Oleh Syniehubov, has said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials confirmed that the death toll following a Russian strike Friday on the city of Mykolaiv, had risen to four. A child was among the victims, said the city's mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.
Writing about the Mykolaiv strike on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a projectile had hit a playground next to an apartment block.
"Russia proves every day with its terror that 'pressure' is not enough," he said. "This destruction of life must be stopped. We need new solutions to support our defenses. Russia must feel the power of the world."
Starmer’s words will be welcomed in Kyiv – but Zelensky needs action more than ever
Saturday 20 July 2024 12:30
Mary Dejevsky
Keir Starmer’s decision to invite Volodymyr Zelensky to become only the second foreign dignitary after Bill Clinton to address the UK Cabinet can be seen as an attempt by the latest prime minister of the UK to reassure Ukraine of this country’s continuing support, and to rekindle something of the trust that surely existed between former PM Boris Johnson and Zelensky.
Yet however distinguished the setting, and however warm the words on either side, there was inevitably more appearance than substance to the proceedings.
Read more here:
Recap: Zelensky calls on Starmer to ‘show leadership'
Saturday 20 July 2024 11:32
Archie Mitchell
Volodymyr Zelensky used his historic address to the UK cabinet to urge Sir Keir Starmer to “show leadership” and let Ukraine use British weapons for strikes deep inside Russia.
The Ukrainian president on Friday became the first foreign leader to address the cabinet in person since Bill Clinton in 1997, calling for support for his country’s “long-range capability”.
In his address to the cabinet, Mr Zelensky said that “if the restriction on Western weapons is lifted” it would help Kyiv to strengthen its defences and secure its frontline positions.
Read the full story here:
Ukraine’s biggest music festival returns for first time since Russian invasion
Saturday 20 July 2024 10:26
Adam Withnall
This weekend 25,000 music lovers are gathering for Ukraine’s biggest music festival, an annual event that hasn’t been held since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Journalist Paul Niland shared a video on X of a large crowd watching the Ukrainian rock band BoomBox on stage. The billing this year will understandably mostly be made up of domestic talent, though the event has previously had headline acts from global stars like Kasabian, The Chemical Brothers and Liam Gallagher.
This is how my evening is going. Packed Boombox gig for the Atlas United 2024 festival. pic.twitter.com/IA31BAuTvQ
— Paul Niland (@PaulNiland) July 19, 2024
Speaking to the BBC, event organiser Vlad Yaremchuk explained how the festival is being conducted in a car park outside one of Kyiv’s biggest shopping malls – so if a Russian air attack does take place, “there will be more than enough space to get everyone evacuated quickly -- and we’re talking minutes”. The mall has a capacity of 100,000, he says.
So far the festival, running from Friday to Sunday, is going smoothly. It already had to be pushed back one week after the major aerial assault on Kyiv that hit a children’s hospital.
“We didn’t even expect to have a chance to do a festival while the war is still happening.” Yaremchuk says.
“The reality showed us that cultural events are still possible in wartime.”
Two killed in Ukraine by Russian missile and drone strikes
Saturday 20 July 2024 09:39
Reuters
Russian drones and missiles struck overnight in Ukraine, killing two civilians and hitting energy facilities and railway infrastructure across the country, officials said on Saturday.
Oleh Syniehubov, regional governor for the Kharkiv region, said Iskander missiles targeted an infrastructure facility in the small town of Barvinkove in the northeast, killing two people and injuring three more.
He gave no details about the facility, but said on the Telegram messaging app that more than 50 residential houses and administrative and commercial buildings were also damaged in the strike.
The Ukrainian air force said Russian forces launched four ballistic Iskander missiles in the overnight attack. The Ukrainian air defence failed to shoot them down.
The air defence shot down 13 of 17 Russian drones over five regions in the east, north, and centre of the country, the air force said.
Ukrenergo, the national grid operator, said the drones attacked electricity distribution facilities in the central Poltava region, in the Sumy region in northeast and in the northern Chernihiv region.
Ukrenergo imposed emergency power cuts for industrial and residential consumers in Poltava and Chernihiv regions, it said on the Telegram messaging app.
Russian forces have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure since March, knocking out about half of the available energy generation and forcing extended blackouts for millions.
The Ukrainian Railways said the overnight attacks damaged railway infrastructure in some parts of Kharkiv region and briefly delayed some passenger trains.
Controversial champion of Ukrainian language shot dead in Lviv
Saturday 20 July 2024 08:56
Adam Withnall
Iryna Farion, a former Ukrainian MP who has become well known for her campaign defending the country’s language, has died in hospital after being shot in the city of Lviv.
The attack on the 60-year-old linguist is being treated as an assassination, Ukraine’s interior minister said, while president Volodymy Zelensky said he was personally across the incident and that such acts of violence must be condemned.
Farion was shot in the street at around 7.30pm on Friday by an unidentified gunman, who fled the scene. She died in hospital later the same day.
Police are hunting the gunman, with Ukraine’s SBU security service also involved in the search.
Farion joined the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party in 2005 and was elected as an MP for a single term from 2012.
She campaigned vociferously against public figures and officials who gave addresses in Russian – a common occurrence despite Ukrainian being the only official state language.
In 2018, when Ukraine was already fighting against Russia-backed separatists in the Donbas to the country’s east, she called for members of the public to “punch every Russian-speaking person in the jaw”.
Farion was fired from her role as a professor at the Ukrainian language department at Lviv Polytechnic University after comments last November in which she said Ukrainian soldiers who spoke Russian were not truly Ukrainian. She was reinstated to her role at the university last month.
Zelensky says Russian missile hit children’s playground as three killed
Saturday 20 July 2024 07:52
Shweta Sharma
The Ukrainian president said a Russian missile strike in the southern city of Mykolaiv hit a children’s playground near a residential building.
Three people, including a child and two adults, were killed and five others were injured, officials said.
“A playground near an ordinary house... Every day Russia proves with its terror that pressure on it is not enough,” Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.
He posted images from the site that showed two bodies lying on the ground. One was the badly mutilated body of a child, covered in blood, dust and debris. Part of a missile lay alongside.
The port city of Mykolaiv and the surrounding region regularly come under Russian attacks.
Vitaliy Kim, the regional governor, hailed residents of the city who rushed to the site to help before medics arrived.
Moscow denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure in its invasion.
A Russian missile strike on Mykolaiv hit a children’s playground near an ordinary residential house. Currently, five people are reported injured, and three people were killed, including a child. My deepest condolences to the families and friends who have lost their loved ones.… pic.twitter.com/QpQ8VP3yOa
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 19, 2024
Recap: Zelensky says it will be ‘hard work’ if Donald Trump is re-elected
Saturday 20 July 2024 07:38
Adam Withnall
Shortly before he spoke to Donald Trump on the phone on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky said in a BBC interview that it would be “hard work” for Ukraine if the Republican were to be re-elected as American president.
Amid concerns that a second Trump administration would drastically reduce US support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, Mr Zelensky said that if a “new team” enters the White House “we have to work with them”.
Mr Zelensky agreed that this would be “hard work”, but added: “We aren’t afraid of hard work.”
Asked about Mr Trump’s claim that he could end the war within 24 hours of entering office, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine would be happy for peace but asked about the “cost” involved.
He said a Trump peace plan would likely involve giving up occupied territories to Vladimir Putin, as well as ending all sanctions on Russia.
“We will never go with it, and there is no guy in the world who can push us to do it,” he said.
The Republican leader’s choice of Senator JD Vance as his running mate has underscored how Washington’s stand on Ukraine, locked in a 28-month-old war with Russia, could change if he won the election. Mr Vance is on record in an interview as saying “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”
Asked about these comments, Mr Zelensky said: “Maybe he really doesn’t understand what goes on in Ukraine.”
Russia strikes energy infrastructure in Ukraine, officials say
Saturday 20 July 2024 07:10
Shweta Sharma
Russian drones hit energy infrastructure facilities in two regions in Ukraine in overnight attacks, officials said.
Ukrainian air defence shot down 13 of 17 Russian drones over five regions in the east, north, and centre of the country, the air force said.
One of the Shahed drones hit an energy facility in the Sumy region while another struck a site in the Chernihiv region, regional officials said.
Repair teams were rushed to the sites of the strikes, they said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Russian forces have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure since March, knocking out about half of the available energy generation and forcing extended blackouts for millions.
Zelensky calls on Starmer to ‘show leadership’ and allow Ukrainian strikes on Russia
Saturday 20 July 2024 07:00
Alexander Butler
Volodymyr Zelensky used his historic address to the UK cabinet to urge Sir Keir Starmer to “show leadership” and let Ukraine use British weapons for strikes deep inside Russia.
The Ukrainian president on Friday became the first foreign leader to address the cabinet in person since Bill Clinton in 1997, calling for support with his country’s “long-range capability”.
In his address to the Cabinet Mr Zelensky said “if the restriction on western weapons is lifted” it would help Kyiv to strengthen its defence and secure its frontline positions.
Trump says he had a ‘very good phone call’ with Zelensky
Saturday 20 July 2024 06:22
Shweta Sharma
Donald Trump said he had a “very good phone call” with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, even as the Biden administration warned about the possibility of the twice-impeached former president withdrawing aid to Ukraine.
“President Zelensky of Ukraine and I had a very good phone call earlier today. He congratulated me on a very successful Republican National Convention and becoming the Republican nominee for President of the United States,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“He condemned the heinous assassination attempt last Saturday and remarked about the American people coming together in the spirit of Unity during these times.”
Mr Trump added: “I appreciate President Zelensky for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families. Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity.”
Mr Zelensky also confirmed the call but did not mention Russia’s war, a day after he told BBC it will be “hard work” to work with Mr Trump and that maybe he does not understand what is happening in Ukraine.
“I wished him strength and absolute safety in the future,” he said. “I noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for protecting our nation’s freedom and independence.”
Mr Zelensky concluded: “We agreed with President Trump to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting.”
Antony Blinken on Friday hinted at the possibility of Mr Trump withdrawing support to Ukraine if he is re-elected.
Ukraine is on its way to being able to “stand on its own feet” militarily, he said Blinken, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country.
Russian commander shot by own men, says soldier
Saturday 20 July 2024 05:00
Alexander Butler
The commander of a Russian unit fighting in Ukraine was shot dead and left “riddled with holes” by his own men, according to a phone call intercepted by Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR).
“Our commander was killed, a good commander, he took pity on everyone. Eleven bullet wounds,” a soldier told his father in the recording published by HUR on Telegram.
Asked who shot him, the soldier said: “The officers said they shot him, and that was it. No questions. Eleven bullet wounds. He was riddled with holes.”
Pictured: Zelensky addresses UK cabinet
Saturday 20 July 2024 04:00
Alexander Butler
Dozens of Nobel laureates call on Belarus leader Lukashenko to release all political prisoners
Saturday 20 July 2024 03:00
Alexander Butler
Dozens of Nobel prize winners have urged Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko to release all political prisoners currently detained by his regime.
The 58 Nobel laureates, including Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, have signed an open letter urging Lukashenko to agree to a political amnesty after 18 seriously ill activists were released this month.
The Belarusian human rights group Viasna counts almost 1,400 political prisoners, including its Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder Ales Bialiatski.
US journalist Evan Gershkovich jailed for 16 years by Russian court
Saturday 20 July 2024 02:00
Alexander Butler
US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been jailed for 16 years in a Russian prison on “politically motivated” charges of espionage.
Mr Gershkovich, 32, has been behind bars since his March 2023 arrest after Moscow accused him of “gathering secret information” for the CIA about a military equipment facility in central Russia.
TheWall Street Journal reporter has denied the charges and nations including the US and UK have hit out at what they see as politically motivated charges – with US president Joe Biden calling his detention “totally illegal”.
Trump will push for Ukraine-Russia peace immediately if elected, Hungary’s Orban tells EU leaders
Saturday 20 July 2024 01:00
Alexander Butler
Donald Trump will push for peace over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “immediately” if he is elected for a second term in the White House, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has claimed in a letter to European Union leaders.
The letter, addressed to European Council president Charles Michel and shared with all EU leaders, was written after Mr Orban held talks with the Republican presidential candidate, as well as with the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and China.
“I can ... surely state that shortly after his election victory, he will not wait until his inauguration, [Mr Trump] will be ready to act as a peace broker immediately. He has detailed and well-founded plans for this,” Mr Orban wrote.
Ukraine and Russia exchange 95 prisoners of war each in latest deal
Friday 19 July 2024 23:30
Alexander Butler
How UK’s strategic capabilities compare to the 1980s as defence review rolled out
Friday 19 July 2024 22:30
Alexander Butler
Prime minister Keir Starmer’s review of Britain’s defences comes as the West faces a “dangerous quartet” of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, according to Nato chief Lord Robertson.
Russia remains the key threat, as it is continuing to wage war in Ukraine, including a deadly missile strike on a children’s hospital in Kyiv last week. Relations with Russia are at their worst since the Cold War period, and military experts believe that European countries need to be prepared for conflict.
But how do Britain’s armed forces compare now to 40 years ago, in 1984, when the UK was engaged in a stand-off with Russia?
In terms of personnel and vessels, the UK’s capacity is substantially lower than in 1984, primarily because the UK is in peacetime.