Russian attacks kill 10 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy says Moscow is getting more North Korean missiles
Russian attacks kill 10 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy says Moscow is getting more North Korean missiles
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Ukrainian cities with missiles, drones and glide bombs Tuesday, killing at least 10 civilians, officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow is getting new military help from North Korea for its more than 4-year-old invasion.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in an overnight attack on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, where a company said seven workers at its steel plant were killed and 21 injured.
Three more people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Russian drones and artillery in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, authorities said.
In addition to the ballistic missiles, North Korea is preparing to deploy more of its troops to Russia, Zelenskyy said late Monday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2024, pledging mutual aid if either country faces aggression.
Kim has sent thousands of troops and huge supplies of weapons to support Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some experts say the engagement with Moscow is helping improve North Korea’s military capabilities, and Zelenskyy said the battlefield experience would help Pyongyang menace other countries in its region.
Ukraine says Russia is poised to escalate the war
Ukraine says Russia is scaling up its production of ballistic missiles, aiming to exploit Kyiv’s critical shortage of Patriot air defense interceptors that can stop them, and claims Moscow is preparing to recruit more troops for a new push on the front line that stretches 1,250 kilometers (775 miles) along eastern and southern Ukraine.
“Every step Russia takes — increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilization — all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
In an unusual step, Ukraine’s air force didn’t say in its daily report how many missiles Russia launched overnight. It was not clear whether the omission was deliberate, and Kyiv officials made no immediate comment.
U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to stop the war have fizzled as Washington grew frustrated with the lack of progress and its attention turned to the Iran war.
In an indication that Putin is determined to press on with the invasion, Russia’s highest court on Monday ordered that Yabloko, the only political party opposing the war, to be excluded from the ballot in the Sept. 18-20 parliamentary election.
“The Kremlin will not enter serious negotiations or make meaningful compromises on its demands as long as Putin believes that he has a viable military path to achieving his full objectives,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in an analysis Monday.
“Ukraine’s Patriot shortages offer Russia an opportunity to cause very serious damage to Ukraine over the coming winter and will therefore contribute to delaying meaningful negotiations and protracting the war,” it said.
Russia hits the grounds of a Kyiv children’s hospital
Russian forces also struck parts of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, overnight, according to officials. One strike hit the grounds of a children’s hospital, leaving two craters and shattering windows, the State Emergency Service said. Children and medical workers were in bomb shelters and nobody was hurt, it added.
At another location in Kyiv, a Russian strike started a fire in a warehouse that spread across about 1,200 square meters (nearly 13,000 square feet), according to emergency officials.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces overnight struck “military industrial facilities and transport and logistics centers” in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia with “ground-based precision weapons.”
It said in a statement that it hit civilian storage facilities housing drones in Kyiv and a metallurgical plant in Zaporizhzhia.
Metinvest, a major Ukrainian mining and metals company with operations in Zaporizhzhia, said seven of its steel plant employees died as staff tried to reach shelters after a warning of an incoming ballistic missile.
The company, which employs tens of thousands of people, said in a statement that the attack damaged its blast furnace and other equipment and forced the plant to shut down.
Russia targeted Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia with Zircon anti-ship missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles, while launching 120 long-range strike drones across the country, Ukraine’s air force said.
Russia’s biggest e-commerce company hit again
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted nearly 400 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions and Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow illegally annexed from Kyiv in 2014.
Russia’s biggest online retailer, Wildberries, said its logistical facilities in the Voronezh region near the Ukrainian border came under attack and caught fire. It added that the fire was extinguished and goods stored there were “largely undamaged.”
Ukraine has repeatedly struck Wildberries warehouses and Russian oil facilities in what it says is a strategy to compel Putin to negotiate an end to the invasion.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck an oil refinery in the city of Orsk in Russia’s Orenburg region near the border with Kazakhstan, about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from Ukraine, causing a fire.
The refinery, with an annual processing capacity of about 44 million barrels of crude oil, produces gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, among other products. The extent of the damage was being assessed, the military said.
Meanwhile, Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said its navy destroyed two drones drifting in the Black Sea about 90 nautical miles (166 kilometers) from the port of Constanta.
The Gerbera-type drones were neutralized by divers using controlled detonations, and some pieces were recovered, the ministry said, adding that Ukraine said the drones were not theirs.
UN says over 16,000 civilians are being held by Russia
The United Nations, meanwhile, estimates that more than 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during the war are still being “deprived of their liberty,” with many held incommunicado and on grounds that don’t comply with international law.
“Widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment” of both Ukrainian civilian detainees and prisoners of war by Russia are continuing, including sexual violence, said Claudia Fuentes Julio, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights.
She spoke at an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday to spotlight the plight of civilians and soldiers taken following the Russia invasion.
——
Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The PM has announced a rake of measures to help people since taking office three weeks ago.
Up to 96% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon in the UK, while parts of Spain, Greenland, Iceland, Portugal and Russia will see a total eclipse.
Once used to defend Britain’s shores against Napoleonic France, the Ordnance Survey’s detailed maps are now essential for tracking and adapting to climate change.”I would argue there is no clearer way to see the impact of climate change than looking at a traditional map,” Tom Gray, a utilities and transport expert for Britain’s national mapping agency, told AFP.
He was sitting in front of an aerial photograph of dry land projected onto a big screen at the OS headquarters in the port city of Sout
Aug 12 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee on Wednesday to discuss measures to tackle extreme heat, wildfires and
MADRID/REYKJAVIK, Aug 12 () – Millions of people across Spain and Iceland geared up to witness a total solar eclipse on Wednesday, packing their protective glasses and travelling to areas where the rare astronomical event can be observed in full. Humans’ fascination with eclipses is well-documented.
RNLI says there will be an increase in swell and large pushing tides during the partial eclipse.
Skywatchers are set to witness two major celestial events next week, with a deep partial solar eclipse followed by the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.
A leaked internal review warns of concerns about a new unit investigating the most serious crimes.
BEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) – China’s strongest typhoon this year lashed wide swathes of the country, battering the capital with bouts of intense rain that flooded key roads and stranded vehicles, after
The Thai government on Wednesday pledged to tighten gun controls and crack down on illegal firearms after two deadly shootings near Bangkok in less than a week renewed pressure on authorities to curb gun violence. The country has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Asia despite its fairly restrictive gun laws. The two recent shootings, both in Nonthaburi province northwest of the capital Bangkok, have intensified calls for tougher enforcement and tighter controls on firearms.
The U.S. and Iran are close to agreeing on “some sort of arrangement,” Pakistan’s defense minister told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
The single case, which was the first in Scotland, was recorded at the Kirkmabreck Farm near Creetown in Dumfries and Galloway.
Not every one of Tuesday’s primaries can be called yet, but the big trends are clear.
The vessel is said to have overturned after being hit by strong waves.
Drivers have been told to stay away from the area as access to King’s Lynn is closed.
Yorkshire residents have a rare chance to see the best view of a solar eclipse since 1999 next week.
LAGOS, Aug 12 () – Nigeria approved tax waivers for nearly 4,000 electric vehicles in the first half of this year, government data showed, as authorities push to accelerate nascent EV adoption despite chronic electricity shortages. The approvals reviewed by are the first under a new government programme aimed at promoting cleaner transport through tax incentives and local assembly programmes.
The site on the Suffolk coast sees its first visitors following a devastating 12 day-long fire.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is at the scene of a large fire on Reservoir Road in Hull.
JAKARTA, Aug 12 (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities rescued 172 people on Wednesday after a ferry travelling from the tourist island of Bali caught fire in waters off Lombok, officials said, as the
Powered by WPeMatico