Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces launch over 150 deadly glide bombs in huge air attack – UK Times

Vladimir Putin’s troops have launched over 150 deadly glide bombs at Ukraine over the last day in a huge air attack, Kyiv’s military said.

At least 153 KAB missiles – winged explosives weighing up to 1,500 kilograms and nicknamed the “building destroyer” – were dropped on Ukrainian towns and cities on Saturday, according to Ukraine’s general staff.

They were part of a huge air attack on involving nearly 100 airstrikes and a missile attack in regions like Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, it added.

Ukrainian air defences destroyed 65 out of 111 drones launched by Russia during an overnight attack, Kyiv’s air force said in a statement on Sunday.

It added that another 35 drones were “locationally lost” without causing damage, typically a reference to electronic jamming, but that damage was reported in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa and Donetsk regions.

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop attacking ships in the Black Sea after intense negotiations with the US in Saudi Arabia.

It is not the full ceasefire Donald Trump is continuing to push for three years into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but the move is seen as progress by the White House.

A US delegation held separate talks with counterparts from Russia and Ukraine over three days into Tuesday.

But how long the current deal will hold – and even when it officially begins – remains uncertain after Russia carried out drone strikes on a key Ukrainian port city overnight.

The Russian defence ministry has claimed Putin’s troops have taken the settlement of Panteleimonivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and Scherbaky in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukraine has not commented on the claim. It has not been independently verified.

Downing Street has confirmed British and French military planners will visit Ukraine next week to discuss “how the coalition of the willing’s reassurance force will work in practice”.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Any peace agreement can only be achieved if it’s backed by real, credible security assurances that deter Putin from coming back for Ukraine again.

“That’s what the focus of the coalition of the willing meetings have been so far, supported by the ongoing military planning meetings, which have been taking place in the last few weeks, and we continue the operational phase of our planning.

“British and French military leaders will go to Ukraine next week to discuss the Ukrainian military, how a reassurance force will work in practice.”

Ukrainian troops have quietly pushed inside Russian territory over the past few days, according to military bloggers.

Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst with the Finnish-based Black Bird Group, said Ukrainian forces had penetrated Russian defences in Belgorod between 1.9 and 2.5 miles.

The move could be an attempt to distract Russian forces pushing out Kyiv’s troops in neighbouring Kursk, which Ukraine seized after an invasion in August last year.

Two people were killed and 25 injured in a Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv, Kyiv’s military said.

Drones struck the military hospital, shopping centre, apartment blocks and other targets in the city.

The military’s General Staff said that Ukrainian troops were among the injured in what it described as a “deliberate, targeted shelling” of a medical facility.

The attack “added to the long list of vile and cynical crimes committed by the Russians since the beginning of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine”, the military added.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said one of the dead had been pulled out from under rubble. He put the overall number of injured at 27.