Ukraine-Russia war latest: Three killed after Putin’s forces launch drone attack on Zaporizhzhia

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Ukraine’s Donetsk area on Saturday, the place he met commanders of drone models close to the strategic jap metropolis of Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian troops have for months been keeping off Russian assaults across the metropolis, the place Moscow’s forces have been slowly advancing to attempt to ultimately seize the whole area.

“I visited the command put up of the Tactical Group Pokrovsk and met with the commanders of the Drone Line, which united the best unmanned programs models of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Zelenskiy wrote on X.

“I acquired a report on the protection of the Pokrovsk route, the operational state of affairs, and the progress of the missions. I honored our warriors with state awards.”

Drones have remodeled warfare for the reason that begin of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, and Ukraine has sought to raise drone models and enhance home manufacturing.

This month, Kyiv’s defence ministry stated it might buy round 4.5 million first-person view (FPV) drones in 2025, largely from home producers, greater than doubling final 12 months’s charge.

South Korea’s International Minister Cho Tae-yul stated on Saturday that army cooperation between North Korea and Russia should cease, and North Korea shouldn’t be rewarded for its wrongdoings in the middle of bringing concerning the finish of the battle in Ukraine.

Cho additionally stated it is crucial for South Korea, Japan and China to faithfully perform UN sanctions towards North Korea, and to place efforts into stopping North Korean provocations and produce about its full denuclearisation.

Cho was assembly his Chinese language and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on Saturday, within the first such trilateral talks since 2023.

Three individuals have been killed and 12 wounded in a Russian drone assault on the Ukrainian metropolis of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officers stated, in an assault that underlined Moscow’s intention to proceed aerial strikes regardless of agreeing to a restricted ceasefire.

Regional head Ivan Fedorov stated on Saturday that “residential buildings, non-public vehicles, and social infrastructure services have been set on fireplace” within the assault on Friday night time, and revealed pictures displaying emergency providers scouring the rubble of broken residential buildings for survivors.

The Ukrainian air drive reported that Russia fired 179 exploding drones and decoys within the newest wave of assaults in a single day into Saturday.

It stated 100 have been intercepted and one other 63 “misplaced,” probably having been electronically jammed.

Officers within the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk areas additionally reported fires breaking out because of the falling particles from intercepted drones.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence, in the meantime, stated its air defence programs shot down 47 Ukrainian drones.

• Ukraine accused Russia of bombing its personal gasoline infrastructure in an effort to undermine ceasefire talks.
• Putin’s prime safety adviser met North Korean chief Kim Jong Un and mentioned Ukraine.
• The US is alleged to be looking for new phrases for US entry to minerals in Ukraine to incorporate management over Kyiv’s nuclear energy crops, the Monetary Occasions reported.
• Britain is ready to speed up plans subsequent week for a possible peacekeeping drive in Ukraine, together with a dialogue about the way it can function and the construction.
• Zelensky introduced the ‘coalition of the prepared’, the international locations prepared to help Ukrainian peacekeeping efforts, will meet in Paris subsequent week.
• Donald Trump stated a full ceasefire would come “very quickly”, claiming that negotiators have been “dividing up” Ukrainian land.

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Vladimir Putin of trying to “delay and add circumstances” to any ceasefire in Ukraine, a Downing Avenue spokesperson stated on Friday.

The prime minister spoke to EU chiefs together with the leaders of Turkey, Norway and Iceland, the spokesperson stated.

“The Prime Minister started by updating on his latest name with President Zelenskyy, and stated it was clear President Putin was making an attempt to delay and add circumstances to any significant ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

“The Prime Minister additionally outlined the brand new army sub-planning teams, throughout land, sea, air, regeneration and reconstruction, which might proceed discussions throughout three intensive planning days subsequent week,” they added.

The leaders mentioned the significance of maintaining funding in army tools to outpace any European threats.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that “all nuclear power plants belong to the individuals of Ukraine” after studies that his US counterpart Donald Trump stated an American takeover of the nation’s nuclear energy would supply the “greatest safety” for it.

However Kyiv says the discussions referred solely to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant, which is underneath Russian occupation.

A trio of U.S. and European officers accustomed to intelligence particulars of the continued battle between Russia and Ukraine told Reuters that the state of affairs on the bottom doesn’t mirror the feedback made by Trump and Putin.

One of many U.S. officers additionally stated that the White Home was briefed on the precise situation in Ukraine, so it’a unclear why Trump has and continues to assert that Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk area are surrounded.