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The Ukrainian president said the strike was ‘deliberately calculated’ to cause ‘maximum harm to people’
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Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday condemned a “wicked” Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv that left five people dead in the Ukrainian capital.
A pregnant woman was among at least 34 people injured as Russia struck Ukraine with at least 430 drones and 18 missiles overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
The Ukrainian president said the attack was “deliberately calculated” to cause “maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure”. Strikes also hit Kharkiv and Odesa regions, he said.
The attack on the capital was ongoing, officials said, urging residents to remain in shelter until an air raid alert could be lifted. City authorities also warned of power and water outages.
The attack came as European Union officials warned this week that Ukraine must continue to crack down on corruption following a major graft scandal that has put top nuclear energy officials under scrutiny.
Russia said on Friday it remains open to the idea of a summit with the United States in Budapest if it is properly prepared and based on agreements reached at the previous meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said contacts between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would continue if needed.
The two sides announced the planned summit last month but Trump cancelled it soon afterwards, saying he did not want it to be a waste of time.
Germany’s governing parties rallied to provide Ukraine with an additional $3bn in funding during lengthy talks on a draft 2026 budget.
Coalition lawmakers had agreed by Friday morning to raise aid to Ukraine to $11.5bn to be spent on military equipment, including Patriot air defence systems, according to German media reports.
Germany is the largest donor of aid to Ukraine after the United States in raw terms.
The death toll in Kyiv rose to five on Friday after Russia launched a major missile and drone barrage overnight.
A pregnant woman was among at least 34 people injured.
Emergency crews responded to multiple strikes during the night, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration.
Russia used at least 430 drones and 18 missiles in the attack that left gaping holes in some city buildings, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukraine struck an oil terminal in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, a key outlet for Russian commodity shipments, a Ukrainian security service official said on Friday.
“Every oil refinery or oil terminal that is hit means millions of dollars less for the Kremlin’s war machine,” the official said. “We will continue to deprive the aggressor of resources until it loses the ability to wage this war.”
Two industry sources told Reuters earlier that the port of Novorossiysk had halted oil exports on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack, and that oil pipeline monopoly Transneft had suspended crude supplies to the outlet.
The coming winter may prove to be the hardest in years for people across Ukraine, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned on Friday.
Millions of people face dire conditions through the colder months, with livelihoods destroyed, prices soaring and savings depleted.
“Almost four years of conflict have eroded people’s resources. Many families are entering this winter with no financial buffer – seven out of ten people said they don’t have any savings left,” said Jaime Wah, Deputy Head of Delegation for IFRC in Ukraine.
The IFRC Network and the Ukrainian Red Cross have launched a 38 million Swiss franc winterisation plan that aims to reach nearly half a million people, they said. Red Cross teams are also mobilising to reach vulnerable households across frontlines and affected regions, distributing essentials.
North Korean troops who helped Russia repel a major Ukrainian incursion into its western Kursk region are now playing an important role in clearing the area of mines, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday.
Under a mutual defence pact between the two countries, North Korea last year sent some 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russia in Kursk, and more than 6,000 were killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western sources.
Ukrainian forces smashed across the border in August 2024 and held on to substantial pockets of territory for months. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in April that Russia had finally pushed them out, with help from the North Koreans.
The significant North Korean role in Russia’s de-mining operations highlights the desire on both sides to further develop their military ties, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said last month would “advance non-stop”.
The United Kingdom will provide funding for three major reconstruction projects in Ukraine, including two hospitals and an extensive roading project, the Foreign Office announced on Thursday.
Some £5.2 million has been set aside to support critical national infrastructure as part of the UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue.
British and Ukrainian school children will also participate in the 100 Year Partnership schools programme, delivered through the British Council. Earlier this year, 50 schools in the UK matched with 50 schools in Ukraine on a year-long reading project.
New funding will support another 30 schools across both the UK and Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s security is our security,” said Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. “Through our 100 Year Partnership, we commit to stand with Ukraine not just today or tomorrow, but for many decades and generations to come, deepening our economic, security and cultural ties.”
France will host Ukraine’s president in Paris on November 17 in a show of support for Kyiv, president Emmanuel Macron’s office said on Friday.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit will be his ninth trip to France since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.
The latest summit will look to build on the momentum in terms of helping Ukraine following a meeting of Ukraine’s Coalition of the Willing allies last month, added Macron’s Elysee office.
Russian troops have taken control of two more settlements in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry has claimed.
The two villages are Rih in the Donetsk region and Orestopil in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The Independent could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
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