Russia Ukraine war live: Zelensky touts new ‘drone missile’ as Putin sends more artillery to troops in Kursk
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Ukrainian president President Volodymyr Zelensky has touted a newly developed Ukrainian “drone missile” that he said would take the war back to Russia.
As Ukraine marked 33 years of post-Soviet independence, Mr Zelensky said the new weapon, Palianytsia, was faster and more powerful than the domestically made drones that Kyiv has so far used to fight back against Russia.
“Our enemy will … know what the Ukrainian way for retaliation is. Worthy, symmetrical, long-ranged,” he said.
The new class of Ukrainian weapon had been used for a successful strike on a target in Russia, he added.
Mr Zelensky also described Vladimir Putin as a “sick old man from Red Square”.
It comes as Russia’s defence ministry announced it sent more artillery to the Kursk region where Russian forces are fighting thousands of Ukrainian troops who pierced the Russian border on 6 August.
“Additional missile and artillery weapons have been supplied to the group,” the ministry said in a statement on supplies to troops in the Russian border regions.
Meanwhile, Russia launched several missiles and drones overnight targeting northern and eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s military has said, with air defence systems destroying most of the weapons before they reached their targets.
A member of the Reuters team covering the war in Ukraine was missing and two others were hospitalised after a strike on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
In a statement, the news agency said that the Hotel Sapphire, where a six-person Reuters crew was staying, was hit “by an apparent missile strike” on Saturday.
“One of our colleagues is unaccounted for, while another two have been taken to hospital for treatment,” the agency said.
“Three other colleagues have been accounted for. We are urgently seeking more information, working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and supporting our colleagues and their families. We will give an update when we have more information,” it added.
Vadym Filashkin, governor of Donetsk region, said in a post on Telegram on Sunday morning that “the Russians hit Kramatorsk”, and that two journalists were injured, while one was missing after a strike on a hotel.
“Authorities, police and rescuers are working on the spot. Debris clearance and rescue operations are ongoing,” he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ukraine‘s General Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Telegram that it had opened a “pre-trial investigation” into the strike, which it said happened at 10:35 p.m. local time (1935 GMT) on Saturday.
“Russian troops struck the city of Kramatorsk, probably with an Iskander-M missile,” it said.
Jabed Ahmed25 August 2024 10:43
Pictured: Russian strike in the town of Kramatorsk
Jabed Ahmed25 August 2024 10:13
Russia sends more artillery to troops fighting Ukraine in Kursk
Russia’s defence ministry has said it sent more artillery to the Kursk region where Russian forces are fighting thousands of Ukrainian troops who pierced the Russian border on 6 August.
“Additional missile and artillery weapons have been supplied to the group,” the ministry said in a statement on supplies to troops in the Russian border regions.
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Five civilians die in Ukraine’s shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region, governor says
Five civilians died and 12 others were injured after Ukraine shelled the town of Rakitnoye in Russia’s Belgorod region, the governor of the region in the country’s southwest said on Sunday.
Among the injured are three children, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Nine of the injured were hospitalised, with six of them listed in a serious condition, including a 16-year-old girl who is in intensive care
“We will definitely help everyone who suffered,” Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app. “Our task now is to endure, to overcome trials, to cope with trouble.”
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war, which Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbour in February 2022.
Jabed Ahmed25 August 2024 08:29
Russia attacks Ukraine with missiles, drones, Ukraine military says
Russia launched several missiles and drones overnight targeting northern and eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s military has said, with air defence systems destroying most of the weapons before they reached their targets.
The attack targeted Ukraine‘s frontline regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk, Ukraine‘s air force said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Most of the missiles did not reach their targets,” the air force said, adding that Russia launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile, an Iskander-K cruise missile and six guided air missiles. It did not specify how many missiles were destroyed.
The air force said Russia launched nine attack drones, with Ukraine‘s air defence systems destroying eight of them over the Ukraine‘s Mykolaiv region.
Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region in the east, posted on Telegram that seven people were injured in the Russian attacks, including a 4-year-old child.
Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv city, said a gas pipeline was damaged in the city and at least two houses were destroyed and 10 damaged.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.
Jabed Ahmed25 August 2024 08:11
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After Ukraine’s audacious incursion into the Kursk region – which made Vladimir Putin the first Russian leader since 1941 to suffer a foreign invasion – establishing a fully demilitarised zone between the warring neighbours could yet prove useful in the event of Donald Trump’s re-election, says Sean O’Grady
Tom Watling25 August 2024 05:00
