11:03
Major fires in Kharkiv after new Russian attacks
Several fires broke out in Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, on Saturday following Russian drone and missile attacks. The Ukrainian Civil Protection announced this on Saturday. At least four people were injured in the attacks, including a child.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia deployed thirteen Shahed combat drones and four converted anti-aircraft missiles of the S-300 type on Friday night. The air force says all drones were intercepted, but Ihor Terechov, the mayor of Kharkiv, reports fires after two drone attacks.
The largest fire, with a total area of 3,000 square meters, broke out in a warehouse. The firefighting efforts were still underway on Saturday morning.
Kharkiv is only about forty kilometers from the Russian border. Since the outbreak of war more than two years ago, the city has been regularly bombarded with rockets and bombs. In recent weeks, Russia has stepped up its attacks even further. There are fears that the city will gradually become uninhabitable.
08:18
Russia reports new missile attack on Crimea
The Russian Ministry of Defense reports that it has intercepted several missiles fired at Crimea. Air defense downed four ATACMS projectiles, according to a statement. These are supplied by the United States to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian authorities have not yet responded. It is unclear how extensive the attack was on the peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. There were also reports last week of a Ukrainian attack on Crimea. Several Russian bases were reportedly shot at with ATACMS missiles there. These missiles can have a range of 300 kilometers.
The US started supplying ATACMS missiles to Ukraine last year, but initially sent a variant with a shorter range, according to US media. Ukraine is also said to have acquired the long-range variant this year, with which it can also attack targets deeper in occupied territory.
In Ukraine, Russian drone attacks were reported on Saturday in the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. The Ukrainian air force said Russian forces had deployed 13 unmanned aircraft. They would all have been knocked down, after which falling debris caused casualties. Several people were injured and infrastructure, homes and businesses were damaged.
06:49
Three people injured by debris from crashed Russian drones in Kharkiv
Three people have been injured by debris from downed Russian drones in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. A fire also broke out in an office building, the regional governor said.
Oleh Synehubov wrote on Telegram that a 13-year-old child and a woman were being treated in the hospital. A second woman was treated at the scene. Emergency services got the fire under control, he added.
7:49 PM, Yesterday
Russia boasts of its own territorial gains and Ukrainian losses
Russia claims that it has captured about 547 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since the beginning of 2024. In addition, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Ukrainian army has already lost more than 111,000 troops this year, as well as more than 21,000 vehicles and other military equipment. He said this on Friday at a meeting with high-ranking military personnel.
According to Shoigu, Ukrainian losses were particularly high, especially in April. At that time, more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers were said to have been killed or seriously injured every day. His claims cannot be independently verified and are likely grossly exaggerated and part of the propaganda war.
What is certain is that Ukraine has been struggling to hold on for quite some time, partly due to delays in Western arms deliveries and a shortage of armed forces. For about six months now, Moscow has continued to gain ground, especially in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. There, Russia was able to break through the front near the town of Ocheretyne, where the front has been steadily advancing westwards for several weeks.
According to the Ukrainian army-affiliated organization DeepstateMap, which relies on publicly available images and sources, Russian territorial gains this year amount to approximately 340 square kilometers. In total, Russia now occupies 18.032 percent of Ukrainian territory, compared to 17.795 percent at the beginning of 2024.
5:49 PM, Yesterday
EU condemns cyber attacks against Germany and the Czech Republic
The European Union condemns the cyber attacks by the “Russian-controlled” group APT28 in Germany and the Czech Republic and will use “the full spectrum of measures” “to prevent, deter and respond to Russia’s malicious behavior in cyberspace.” High Representative Josep Borrell said this in a statement on behalf of the 27 Member States on Friday. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also condemned the attack in a message on X.
On Friday, the German government announced that it holds APT-28 responsible for a cyber attack that hit the social democratic party SPD last year. According to the Germans, that group is controlled by the Russian military intelligence service GRU. Berlin promptly summoned the charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy. The Czech Republic also reported that its institutions were affected by this cyber attack.
“This malicious cyber campaign demonstrates Russia’s ongoing pattern of malicious behavior in cyberspace, targeting democratic institutions, government agencies and key infrastructure providers in the EU and beyond,” Borrell said. The EU “will not tolerate this behavior”, he assures.
The High Representative of European Foreign Policy points out that APT-28 has been repeatedly used by Russia in the past to carry out cyber attacks against the EU, its Member States and international partners such as Ukraine. In the EU, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden are said to be affected.
The EU already imposed sanctions in 2020 against individuals and bodies deemed responsible for an APT-28 attack on the German parliament in 2015.
Twitter message loading…
4:49 PM, Yesterday
Ukraine may attack Russian territory with British weapons, Kremlin reacts agitated
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s statement that Ukraine may use British weapons to hit targets on Russian territory is “new evidence of the West’s hybrid war” against Russia. Spokeswoman Maria Zacharova said this this afternoon in the Kremlin. The West is waging a war against Russia “with Ukrainian hands,” it said. “Russia is responding to the attacks and will continue to do so.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, called Cameron’s statements “very dangerous” and spoke of “a direct escalation of tensions surrounding the conflict in Ukraine, which could ultimately threaten European security.”
Cameron said yesterday during a visit to Kiev that Ukraine can choose which military targets it targets in its defense against Russia’s war of invasion, whether those targets are in Russia or in occupied Ukrainian territory. According to Cameron, this also applies to the weapons that Ukraine received from the United Kingdom. “Ukraine has that right. Just as Russia strikes within Ukraine, you can well understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it defends itself,” Cameron said (see post 6:50 am).
The United Kingdom is providing Ukraine with powerful Storm Shadow missiles with a range of 250 km. France also supplies that missile, under the name Scalp EG. In Kiev, Cameron announced an additional three billion pounds (3.5 billion euros) in annual military aid for ‘as long as it is necessary’.
Other countries do have agreements with Ukraine that they will not use the weapons they have received from them over Russian territory. For example, Kiev has an agreement with Washington that it will only deploy the new ATACMS missiles on occupied Ukrainian territory, such as the Donbas and the Crimean Peninsula.
