Russia Ukraine war live: Putin launches biggest drone attack yet

Here are some of the latest photos from Kyiv after Russia’s six-hour drone attack.

The world’s attention must “stay on Ukraine” as the Russian invasion continues, a former Nato secretary-general has warned.

Lord George Robertson said Russian President Vladimir Putin would be emboldened to extend the attacks beyond Ukraine if foreign governments stop providing weaponry.

Lord Robertson, who was in the top Nato role between 1999 and 2003, said: “I think it is inevitable that because we’re seeing the television from Gaza every day, that people are paying less attention to Ukraine, but that must change.

“We have got to keep the world’s attention focused on Ukraine because they are involved in a fight with Russia that has got huge implications for all of us as well.

“Vladimir Putin is not simply interested in subjugating Ukraine. He has got a much bigger agenda in the future, and if he succeeds in Ukraine, who knows where he is going to stop.”

The conflict in Ukraine has now surpassed 640 days – the invasion began in February 2022 – and Lord Robertson urged Nato member states to continue to press Russia amid Mr Putin’s “miserable failure”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of being “proud of its ability to kill people” after it launched a significant drone attack against Kyiv this morning during the remembrance day for those killed in the Holodomor genocide.

As the fourth Saturday of November, today marks the Day of Memory for Victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine, honouring those killed in a famine in Ukraine manufactured by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

Estimates suggest that more than three million people, many of whom were farmers and rural villagers, were killed by forced starvation.

At least five people have been injured as a result of Russian drone attacks on Kyiv, including an 11-year-old child, the local mayor has claimed.

Vitali Klitschko said all five were “receiving medical assistance on the spot or in the trauma centre, without further hospitalistion”.

He wrote on Telegram: “The enemy continues to terrorise. To intimidate us, sow panic and decay in our cities and towns.

“But it won’t be like that! We work for the livelihood of communities, we support each other, together we bring Victory closer!”

Russia has fired nearly 100 Iranian-made kamikaze drones overnight, mainly on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Local reports suggested air raid sirens began at around 3am. Mayor Vilati Klitschko wrote at 3.25: “It’s loud in the capital. Several more groups of ‘Shaheeds’ (Iranian drones) are going to Kyiv. Stay in shelters!”

Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleschuk said roughly 75 Shahed-131 and 136s were launched overnight, with at least 71 “destroyed by air defence”.

“On this night, November 25, 2023, the enemy released a record number of strike UAVs over Ukraine!” he wrote on Telegram. “The main direction of the attack is Kyiv!”

Drone engines and explosions were heard overnight in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in what the country’s air force said was Vladimir Putin’s biggest drone attack yet.

The air force said Iran-made Shahed drones were used in the assault that mainly targeted Kyiv, and hit at least three of the capital’s districts.

The mass drone attack struck apartment complexes and falling drone fragments set fire to a children’s nursery, said Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Two people were also injured in the attack due to the falling drone fragments.

Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAZK) fully removed three Greek shipping companies from the international sponsors of war list after they stopped shipping Russian oil, the NAZK announced on 24 November.

Thenamaris Ships Management Inc., Minerva Marine, and TMS Tankers Ltd ceased transporting Russian oil in recent weeks amid tightening U.S. sanctions.

“The National Agency is open to cooperation with international business and is ready to consult on the steps necessary to de-list each individual company,” the NAZK said.

A mass drone attack targeted many districts in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Saturday, reported Reuters, citing an eyewitness.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Telegram said two people were injured by fragments from downed drones that hit residential areas and other buildings in at least three Kyiv districts.

The fragments from one intercepted drone started a fire at a children’s nursery, said the mayor.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has discussed the production of ammunition supply for his country’s war against Russia with Latvia.

“We talked about the defense support of Ukraine, our soldiers. About the stability of such support. We discussed the production and supply of ammunition – artillery, caliber 155 – as well as the issue of “Medevacs” – special armored vehicles for evacuating our wounded soldiers,” Zelensky said.

Finland has temporarily closed all but one of its eight passenger crossings to Russia, its border force has announced.

“All border crossings and application for international protection at the eastern border is centralised at Raja-Jooseppi starting on 24 November 2023. The decision will remain in force until 23 December 2023,” it said in X.

More than 700 migrants from countries such as Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, and Somalia have entered Finland over the past weeks via Russia.