Russia launches massive daytime attack with over 200 drones across Ukraine

Kremlin claims trilateral work to end the war continues as Putin’s forces attack Zelensky’s hometown

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Russia launched a major daytime assault on Ukraine on Wednesday, sending some 200 drones across the border shortly after 9am UK time, according to local media.

Air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine as trackers flagged dozens of Shahed-type unmanned drones moving southwest past Kyiv.

Explosions from air defences could be heard in the capital, according to the Kyiv Independent, as the country’s military intelligence said Russia had launched a combined air attack at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure facilities.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned of possible waves of drone attacks through Wednesday as Russia ramps up its daylight assaults.

“Russia continues its strikes and is doing so brazenly – deliberately targeting our railway infrastructure and civilian sites in our cities,” he said in a post on social media.

Since the beginning of the war more than four years ago, Russia has mainly carried out major drone and missile strikes at night. In recent weeks, however, it has repeatedly sent hundreds of drones and missiles during the daytime.

• Russian ship that sank near Spain ‘was likely heading to North Korea with nuclear reactor parts’
• Putin let his desperation show with unexpected claim his war with Ukraine is ending
• Vladimir Putin ‘stages dressed-down encounter with public’ in bizarre video
• How big is Ukraine’s corruption problem as Zelensky’s ex-chief of staff charged
• Scottish man who spied on Ukraine military for Russia jailed for eight years

Key Points

• Trump says end of Ukraine war 'getting very close'
• Kyiv working with European allies to defend against ballistic missiles, says Zelensky
• Vladimir Putin ‘stages dressed-down encounter with public’ in bizarre video
• Six killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine after ceasefire expires
• Putin hails Russia's test launch of 'world's most powerful' new ballistic missile
• Russian ship that sank near Spain ‘was likely heading to North Korea with nuclear reactor parts’

Briefing: What we know on the 1,539th day of Ukraine war

• The Kremlin repeats Russian president Vladimir Putin's assertion that the war in Ukraine was almost over
• At least six people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine after the US-mediated ceasefire expired. Russia launched more than 200 drones overnight and attacked Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown
• US president Donald Trump also said the war's conclusion was "getting very close" even though Zelensky cautioned that “Moscow had no intention of ending it”

Trump says end of Ukraine war 'getting very close'

US president Donald Trump has said the Ukraine war's conclusion was "very close", even as the fighting continued to rage on the Russia-Ukraine border.

Speaking ​to journalists before departing on a state visit to China yesterday, Trump said a settlement between the two nations was approaching, but did not elaborate.

“The end of the war in Ukraine I really think ​it's getting very close," Trump said as he left the White House.

Trump ‌has ⁠convened multiple rounds of talks with the warring sides to try to end the conflict, but no peace deal has emerged.

Russia, which now occupies around a fifth of Ukraine, wants Kyiv to cede additional territory – a condition Kyiv has rejected outright.

Kyiv wants Russian troops to withdraw from the illegally occupied Ukrainian territories.

Six killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine after ceasefire expires

At least six people were killed after Russian forces launched attacks in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region yesterday, officials said.

Russia launched more than 200 drones overnight, putting an end to hopes that ⁠the three-day ceasefire that ended Monday would be extended.

A drone attack on an apartment building in Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown, the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killed two and injured four, including the dead couple's nine-month-old granddaughter, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha and the head of the military administration Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram.

The ​child's ⁠leg was severed, they said.

Zelensky denounced the strike as "cynical and devoid of all military logic".

"After the end of the partial three-day ceasefire, Russia continues to kill and maim Ukrainians and ⁠pressure on it must therefore in no way be weakened," he said.

Northeast of Kryvyi Rih, an aerial bomb strike killed four and injured three, Hanzha said.

Putin let his desperation show with unexpected claim his war with Ukraine is ending

Pausing, turning and pointing, like hounds catching a new scent, Europe’s leaders are picking up a blood trail from the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin’s forces were once the hunters – now they are bleeding and Ukraine has the whiff of victory in its nose.

In the latest sign that Ukraine’s systematic new policy of trying to kill at least 50,000 Russians a month is working, Putin has told his people that the end of the war he started is near.

And, in an act that was both desperate and doomed, he suggested that Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor, could act as Europe’s envoy in talks.

Putin let his desperation show with unexpected claim his war with Ukraine is ending

How big is Ukraine’s corruption problem as Zelensky’s ex-chief of staff charged

Volodymyr Zelensky’s former chief of staff was charged with corruption and money laundering on Monday as Ukraine’s galvanised watchdog pressed on with its widening investigation.

Andriy Yermak, who was until late last year the president’s closest advisor, was accused of laundering some UAH 460 million (£7.73m) through luxury accommodation near Kyiv. He denies ownership in the project.

Ukraine’s top anti-corruption agencies announced today they had charged six suspects in connection to the probe, which they said was linked to Operation Midas, the growing crackdown on an alleged plot to skim $100m from the country’s energy sector.

How big is Ukraine’s corruption problem as Zelensky’s ex-chief of staff charged

Vladimir Putin ‘stages dressed-down encounter with public’ in bizarre video

Vladimir Putin appeared to stage a friendly encounter with a member of the public in a bizarre video shared by the Kremlin on Monday.

The Russian president was filmed making friendly small talk with a man in a hotel lobby during a planned meeting with an old schoolteacher in Moscow.

Putin, 73, cut a casual figure as he paraded the city, dressed down and with a small security detail in an apparent rebuttal of claims that security around him has been tightened amid fears of an assassination attempt or coup.

Vladimir Putin ‘stages meeting with the public’ in bizarre video

Kyiv working with European allies to defend against ballistic missiles, says Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv was working with its allies in Europe to develop technologies to defend against ballistic missiles, adding that 13 countries and Nato representatives had participated in talks on the issue on Tuesday.

“We are steadily advancing the issue of anti-ballistic capabilities production in Europe – we are forming an anti-ballistic coalition. This is something worth doing, and right now we are closer to a result than ever before,” he said in his nightly address.

Zelensky added that at least 13 countries and the Office of the Nato secretary general were represented at yesterday’s meeting at the level of NSAs on anti-ballistic solutions.

“Overall, Ukraine’s positions right now – on the frontline, in our long-range sanctions, and in our joint results with partners – are the strongest they have been in years,” he said.

Scottish man who spied on Ukraine military for Russia jailed for eight years

A Scottish man who worked as a military instructor in Ukraine has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to spying for Russia.

Ross David Cutmore, from the city of Dunfermline in Fife, was recruited by a member of the Russian special services and transmitted information about the Ukrainian military in return for payment.

The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said that he had “acted out of selfish motives and with the intent to transmit this data to the aggressor country”.

Cutmore was jailed for eight years and six months after admitting his guilt in a plea deal at the Kyiv district court of Odesa on 30 April.

Cutmore arrived in the country in January 2024, according to prosecutors. He ran classes for Ukrainian service personnel in the city of Mykolaiv.

Scottish man who spied on Ukraine military for Russia jailed for eight years

Putin hails Russia's test launch of 'world's most powerful' new ballistic missile

Russia has test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to modernise the country's nuclear forces, a launch hailed by president Vladimir Putin just days after his claim that the fighting in Ukraine is nearing an end.

Putin said that the nuclear-armed Sarmat missile would enter combat service at the end of the year. It was built to replace the aging Soviet-built Voyevoda.

The Sarmat — designated “Satan II” in the West — is meant to replace about 40 Soviet-built Voyevoda missiles. Its development began in 2011 and before Tuesday, the missile had only one known successful test and reportedly suffered a massive explosion during an abortive test in 2024.

“This is the most powerful missile in the world,” Putin declared, adding that the combined power of the Sarmat’s individually targeted warheads is more than four times higher than that of any Western counterpart.

The Russian leader has repeatedly brandished the nuclear sword after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine.

Russia says it has downed 286 Ukrainian drones overnight

Russian forces have intercepted and downed at least 286 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry said this morning.

It did not detail the damage caused by the massive swarm of Ukrainian drones.

Russia typically reports only how many drones its air defences say they downed, not how many Ukraine launched, and rarely discloses the full extent of damage unless civilians are killed or civilian sites are hit.

However, damage was reported by local officials.

In the ‌southern Krasnodar ‌region, drone ⁠fragments fell on the territory of an industrial facility, ‌causing ​a ‌fire, ⁠local authorities ⁠said on their Telegram channel.

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