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Ukraine said its forces ‘adhere to international law’
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Kyiv has denied Russian claims that Ukrainian drones deliberately struck a cafe and hotel in the occupied village of Khorly in Kherson, killing at least 27 people.
Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman of Russia‘s Investigative Committee, had claimed in a statement that the strike targeted a hotel where at least 100 civilians were celebrating New Year’s Eve overnight into Thursday. A total of 31, including five minors, were hospitalised with injuries.
A spokesman for Ukraine‘s General Staff, Dmytro Lykhovii, denied attacking civilians.
He told Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne on Thursday that Ukrainian forces “adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law” and “carry out strikes exclusively against Russian military targets, facilities of the Russian fuel and energy sector, and other lawful targets.”
Lykhovii said that General Staff published an explicit list of targets that the Ukrainian army struck on the night of New Year’s Eve that did not include occupied parts of the Kherson region.
Russian authorities said that the death toll from a Ukrainian drone strike they claim struck a cafe in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region has risen to 27.
Kyiv has denied attacking civilian targets.
Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for Russia’s main criminal investigation agency the Investigative Committee, said that a Ukrainian drone strike on a cafe and hotel in the village of Khorly, where at least 100 civilians were celebrating New Year’s Eve overnight into Thursday, killed 27 people, including two children.
A total of 31 people, including five children, were taken to hospital with injuries, officials said.
A criminal probe on the charges of carrying out an act of terrorism has been opened, Ms Petrenko said.
Kyrylo Budanov has headed the Defence Ministry’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) since 2020 and brings a track record of overseeing covert and other operations against Russian forces.
He has also led talks with Russia on the exchange of prisoners of war.
Budanov makes frequent media appearances and is known for his restrained style and often cryptic commentary about suspected Ukrainian actions inside Russia.
In a 2023 interview with Reuters, he said his public profile was a critical part of the “information battle” against Moscow.
The local governor of the Kharkiv region says that at least 15 people were injured in a Russian missile strike on a multi-storey building.
“Preliminarily, the Russian army launched two strikes with ballistic weapons,” he said on Telegram.
“There is information that people are still trapped under the rubble. Search operations are ongoing,” he added.
Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned a “heinous” Russian strike on two buildings in an “ordinary residential” area of Kharkiv.
He wrote on X: “The exact number of casualties is yet unknown. First responders, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, as well as Kharkiv city and regional authorities, will provide updates.”
Zelensky added: “Unfortunately, this is how the Russians treat life and people – they continue killing, despite all efforts by the world, and especially by the United States, in the diplomatic process. It is only Russia that does not want this war to end, and every day it does everything to ensure the war continues.”
Experts tell Maira Butt that despite what the Kremlin says, it is still unclear if such an attack took place.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says he will hold a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday to discuss peace efforts between Ukraine and Russia, as well as issues surrounding Gaza.
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul on Friday, Erdogan also said Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” in Paris in the coming days.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has offered the position of presidential chief of staff to military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov.
“At this time, Ukraine needs greater focus on security issues, the development of the Defense and Security Forces of Ukraine, as well as on the diplomatic track of negotiations, and the Office of the President will primarily serve the fulfillment of these tasks of our state,” he said on X.
More than half (53%) of Ukrainians are categorically opposed to any territorial concessions, a new poll has found.
The survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found that a third (33%) of Ukrainians were generally willing to accept certain territorial losses, with 14% unable to decide.
But nearly one in four (39%) are prepared to freeze the front line without officially recognising any occupied territories as part of Russia.
Australian authorities are trying to confirm reports that a national was reportedly killed while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against Russia.
The man, identified in social media posts as Russell Allan Wilson, was killed on 12 December in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, according to local media reports.
In an Instagram post on 19 December, a man identifying himself as a US army veteran said Wilson had been killed during combat and had chosen to remain in Ukraine despite the risks.
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