Ukraine-Russia war latest: Two killed and dozens wounded after Putin’s forces launch massive drone attack on Kharkiv – UK Times

Russia has fired 86 drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv’s air force has claimed.

Ukraine said it shot down 40 of the drones and used electronic warfare to bring down an additional nine.

The strikes hit 14 locations, mainly in the northeast Kharkiv region, the eastern Donetsk region and the southern area of Odesa.

A concentrated, nine-minute-long attack on Kharkiv overnight left two people dead and wounded an additional 57, according to local officials.

Russia has ramped up its aerial strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks, with some residents in the capital of Kyiv on Monday night into Tuesday morning describing that round of assaults as the most intense of the more than three-year war.

Vladimir Putin reportedly told Donald Trump they would ramp up attacks on Ukraine following Kyiv’s cross-border drone attacks on Russian military bases last month.

Talks between the United States and Russia on resolving issues in their bilateral relations will move to Moscow from Istanbul, Russia’s new ambassador to Washington told the state Tass news agency.

“The recovery of Russian-American relations is still a long way off,” Ambassador Alexander Darchiev told TASS, adding that the so-called US “deep state”, including anti-Russia hawks, was slowing the rapprochement with Moscow.

“I can confirm that the next negotiations of the delegations will take place in the very near future in Moscow,” Darchiev was quoted as saying.

The Donald Trump administration has not commented on these claims but the president’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has held multiple rounds of talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

A nine-minute Russian drone strike on Kharkiv killed at least two people and injured 57, among them seven children, overnight, regional officials reported on Wednesday.

The barrage of 17 drones ignited fires in 15 units of a five-storey apartment building and caused widespread damage across the city, which lies near the Russian border.

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said the strikes directly hit apartment blocks, private homes, playgrounds, businesses, and public transport.

“Apartments are burning, roofs are destroyed, cars are burnt, windows are broken,” he wrote on Telegram.

Emergency crews were seen rescuing residents, providing medical aid, and battling fires in the dark, according to a Reuters witness.

Nine of the injured, including a two-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, were hospitalised, regional governor Oleh Sinehubov said.

The attack also damaged a city trolley bus depot and multiple residential buildings.

Russia has not commented on the strikes.

Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, repelled a Russian ground advance early in the war but continues to face regular drone, missile, and aerial bomb attacks.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has confirmed that the upcoming defence budget will reduce military aid to Ukraine, reflecting a major shift in US policy under president Donald Trump.

Mr Hegseth said the administration now favours a negotiated settlement to the conflict over continued military support for Ukraine.

The aid cuts come as Russia intensifies attacks on Ukrainian cities and advances towards new regions.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the US has provided over $66bn in aid to Ukraine.

“It is a reduction in this budget,” Mr Hegseth told lawmakers. “This administration takes a very different view of that conflict. We believe that a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation’s interests, especially with all the competing interests around the globe.”

Mykola Tochytskyi announced on Facebook that the overnight attack struck “at the very heart of our identity again”. He called the 11th-century cathedral “the soul of all Ukraine” and a shrine that “survived for centuries”.

“Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a shrine which survived for centuries and symbolises the birth of our statehood, was damaged,” he said.

He added that the blast wave damaged the cornice on the main apse of the landmark. Video from the scene showed pieces of white plaster crumbled to the ground.

This is the first time since the start of the war that the cathedral has been damaged, first deputy director general of the site Vadym Kyrylenko told reporters.

A Russian drone attack on Kharkiv overnight killed at least two people and injured 54.

Mayor Igor Terekhov reported 17 strikes across two districts, causing fires in a five-storey building with over 15 apartments affected.

Several houses were also hit, and there are fears people may be trapped under the rubble.

Russia has been ready to return the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war “for several days”, the Kremlin has claimed.

Moscow and Kyiv are still in talks on the subject, the Kremlin said

On Saturday Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said the Russian side had shown up at the agreed exchange point with the bodies of 1,212 Ukrainian dead soldiers only to find nobody from Ukraine to take them.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of “trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game” around the issue of the exchanges.

The exchange was agreed during a second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on June 2. The Kremlin said it did not yet know exactly how many bodies of Russian soldiers Ukraine was ready to hand over.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is urging Western allies to cut the price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $30 per barrel to increase pressure on Moscow to seek peace.

This comes amid a sharp escalation in Russian attacks on Ukraine, including a major aerial assault on Kyiv.

While the EU has proposed lowering the cap to $45 as part of its latest sanctions, Mr Zelensky called that a “compromise price” and insisted that stronger economic measures are needed to curb Russia’s war efforts.

“Russia’s ability to continue the war is equal to its ability to sell its oil and bypass financial barriers,” the president said.

“That is why it is necessary … to do everything possible to keep the price of Russian oil lower than they can withstand. Each of the partners knows what price cap is needed — $30, no higher. Such a price level will mean real pressure on Russia – they should be forced to seek peace.”

He added: “Enough compromises with Russia. Every such compromise is a postponement of peace. We are asking for a real reduction in the price of Russian oil, which would bring us closer to ending the war.”

“It is vital that there is no silence in response to the Russian escalation, and it is obvious that there is an escalation,” he said.

“Russia has been steadily increasing the number of lethal weapons in strikes for months now.”

A Russian military aircraft allegedly violated Finland’s airspace on 10 June, the country’s defence ministry said in a statement.

“The investigation into the suspect’s airspace breach has been launched immediately,” Finnish defence minister Antti Hakkanen said.

The ministry added the “Border Guard is investigating the case and will provide more information as the investigation progresses”.

The alleged airspace violation occurred near the city of Porvoo, about 50km east of Helsinki.

On 22 May, two Russian aircraft violated Finnish airspace, while the day prior, Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian Su-24 bomber in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.