Felicitas Dahmen
Zelensky: Canada promises Ukraine important air defense package
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Canada is promising Ukraine an important air defense package and support for the energy industry. Zelensky said this before a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
He does not initially give any details. In his own statement, Carney promises Ukraine further help to defend itself against Russian attacks and support in its efforts to join NATO and the European Union. Canada has supported the country with a total of more than 25.5 billion Canadian dollars since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Marie Boms
Russia reports downing almost 450 Ukrainian drones
According to information from Moscow, Russian air defense has rendered hundreds of Ukrainian drones harmless. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that 448 Ukrainian drones had been shot down during the night. According to the ministry, the drones were intercepted over 13 Russian regions, the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in violation of international law, and the Black and Caspian Seas.
Marie Boms
Ukrainian General Staff confirms attack on refinery in Siberia
According to information from Kiev, Ukrainian drones are now reaching targets in distant Siberia. The Ukrainian General Staff on Thursday confirmed reports of an attack on an oil refinery more than 3,000 kilometers from Ukraine in the vast Russian region.
Marie Boms
Ukraine reports attacks by 149 Russian drones
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russian military used 149 drones against Ukraine during the night. One person was killed and two others were injured in the Kiev region, said the head of the regional military administration, Tymur Tkachenko. At least 16 other civilians were injured in other Ukrainian regions, according to local authorities.
Laura Thalmeyer
Many injured after Russian attacks on Kramatorsk
At least 16 people were injured by Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. The city near the front was shelled four times, the military governor of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filaschkin, said on Telegram. There were impacts in a residential area and near schools. Filaschkin again called on the remaining residents to flee. The front line is just over twelve kilometers from Kramatorsk.
Ukraine has been resisting the Russian invasion for more than four and a half years.
Felicitas Dahmen
Dead and injured in Russian attack on shopping center
Two people were killed and 20 others injured in a Russian drone attack on a shopping center in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, according to the regional governor. Four of the injured are in a serious condition, said Governor Oleh Hryhorov on the short message service Telegram.
Three teenagers were among the injured. Photos posted online by the governor show a heavily damaged building and scattered debris. According to the governor, rescue workers are still on duty.
Luke Bay
Zelensky in Canada – meeting planned with Carney
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Canada. After his arrival, he said his visit would primarily focus on support for the Ukrainian air defense system and preparations for the winter. Important meetings and agreements are planned. Among other things, Zelensky is expected to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“We will discuss how we can strengthen our resilience, support our people and ensure Ukraine has the capabilities it needs to defend itself.”
According to Kiev, Russia is trying to demoralize the civilian population before the upcoming winter by attacking the Ukrainian power grid.
Bianca Hugo
Ukraine attacks two gas facilities in the Russian Arctic
Ukraine says it has targeted two gas condensate processing plants in the Russian Arctic for the first time. This shows the growing reach of Ukrainian attacks on Russia's key industry.
Drones hit gas condensate processing plants in the Purov district and Novy Urengoy in Russia's Yamal-Nenets region, Ukrainian special forces said on Telegram. They traveled more than 3,000 kilometers to reach their goals. According to the statement, it was the deepest attack inside Russia to date.
The confirmation from the Ukrainian side follows information from Russian authorities on Wednesday about an attack on an unspecified energy facility in the Yamal-Nenets region. A fire broke out in an energy complex in the region due to falling debris, said Artem Shoga, presidential representative in the Ural Federal District, on Telegram on Wednesday. According to preliminary information, there were no victims.
Vivian Melchert
Trump: Putin wants agreement to end war
According to US President Donald Trump, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is ready to reach an agreement to resolve the war in Ukraine. "We had a great conversation. He wants an agreement," said the president before his departure to a Republican convention in Dallas in response to a journalist's question about the phone call with Putin. And if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also wanted an agreement, that would be “very nice.”
After US mediators traveled to Kiev and Moscow to discuss a way out of the Ukraine war, Russia said on the phone that Putin had assured Trump that he had no “aggressive plans” with regard to Europe. The Kremlin chief also gave Trump an “objective and detailed analysis of what was happening on the battlefield,” Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov told journalists. Putin explained what the USA “can really do to bring an early end to the hostilities”.
Vivian Melchert
Zelensky's plane almost hit by drone
According to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's plane was almost hit by a drone on the way to Oslo. The incident occurred when Zelensky traveled from Moldova to the Norwegian capital early on Tuesday evening to take part in the funeral ceremonies of the late King Harald V. “That is the reality he finds himself in,” Støre said, according to broadcaster NRK.
The Ukrainian authorities and Zelensky himself have not yet commented on the incident and Støre did not provide any further information. At a meeting on Wednesday morning, Zelenskyy told him that he hadn't had a good night, Støre said and spoke of a "dramatic situation". The Ukrainian sat on the phone and had to receive messages about rocket strikes in his homeland.
According to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Russian drone flew in Moldovan and Romanian airspace for about an hour on Tuesday. According to ISW, the defense ministries in Moldova and Romania reported a Shahed drone that entered Moldovan airspace from Ukraine, flew on to Romania and finally returned to Moldova before crashing there. It is still unclear whether this was the drone mentioned by Støre.
Vivian Melchert
Merz: I see little chance that Russia will be willing to talk
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is skeptical that Russia is really ready for new peace negotiations over Ukraine. “We have little sign at the moment that the Russian government, the Russian president, is ready to enter into serious talks about an end to the war,” said Merz after a meeting with EU Council President Antonio Costa. The federal government has been offering talks for months in order to reach a diplomatic solution. “But as long as the Russian government closes all wishes for talks, negotiations and diplomatic solutions, I see relatively little chance at the moment.” We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as possible. This is not intended to prolong the war, but rather to end it.
Vivian Melchert
Dead and injured in Russian attacks in Ukraine
According to official information, several people have been killed and injured in Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. In the capital Kiev, a woman was killed when a combat drone hit a multi-story residential building. According to civil defense, three other residents, including children, were injured.
At least two people were killed and another 12 people were injured in repeated Russian attacks in the port city of Mykolaiv. According to official information, the attacks targeted port facilities and warehouses where food is stored. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attacks with drones and precision weapons, but said that only military camps were attacked and hit. An independent verification of the information was initially not possible.
At least nine residents were injured in a Russian airstrike on the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. The city was hit by at least nine glide bombs, authorities reported.
Vivian Melchert
Russia and Vietnam plan strategic oil reserves
The Russian state-owned oil and natural gas company Sarubeshneft and the Vietnamese state-owned company Petrovietnam sign a framework agreement to build a strategic oil reserve in Vietnam. The agreement is concluded during Vietnamese President To Lam's state visit to Russia. The companies do not disclose a schedule, the size of the planned reserve or financial details. The Russian side has suggested to its partners to examine the idea of jointly creating strategic fuel reserves in Vietnam, says President Vladimir Putin.
Vivian Melchert
Reports of Ukrainian attack in Western Siberia
According to media reports, the Ukrainian armed forces have attacked and possibly damaged a distant target in Russia with drones. According to Ukrainian media, a gas condensation plant was attacked in Novy Urengoy in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the north of Western Siberia. There was no officially confirmed information about the extent of the damage. The Ukrainian news agency Unian only published unverifiable photos from Russian social media.
The governor of the district, Dmitry Artyukhov, confirmed the attack by combat drones and spoke of a fire caused by falling debris. According to his account, the approaching drones were shot down. “The situation is under control,” he wrote.
Novy Urengoy is over 3,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The attacked company is considered one of the region's most important gas infrastructure facilities.
Vivian Melchert
Court of Auditors: Europe's move away from Russian natural gas is stalling
According to the European Court of Auditors, EU efforts to become independent from Russian oil and natural gas are stalling. This is happening at a time when the gas storage facilities are unusually empty before winter, the authority said in a report. According to data from the Gas Infrastructure Europe industry association, storage facilities are 67 percent full, compared to 80 percent in the same period last year. The EU Commission estimated 300 billion euros for the exit. However, the member states have only budgeted 54.3 billion euros of this. The EU Commission reports that the European measures have accelerated the expansion of renewable energies and contributed to a drastic reduction in Russian gas imports. The recommendations of the Court of Auditors will be examined.
Vivian Melchert
Zelensky accuses the West of lacking pressure on Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the West of being too gentle with Russia in view of increasing attacks on civilian areas. “Unfortunately, the response of the international community to these attacks, which cost lives practically every day, has been inadequate,” Zelensky wrote on social media on Wednesday. “But a reaction is necessary - Moscow must not go into the winter with the assumption that it can get away with missile and drone terror without consequences.”
According to Ukrainian authorities, at least two people were killed in Russian air strikes on Wednesday night. Russia attacked six regions of Ukraine with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. According to the Ukrainian emergency service, four people were injured in a residential building that was shot at in the Darnytsky district of Kiev. 62-year-old resident Olha Smal reported that the explosion of a drone threw her through her kitchen. One of her bedrooms caught fire. Her pregnant neighbor was injured. “You live from day to day,” Smal told the AP news agency. "You don't know what's going to happen to you tomorrow, or even what's going to happen today. It's very, very hard."
The Russian Defense Ministry, however, announced that air defense had shot down 596 Ukrainian drones between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
Vivian Melchert
Kremlin: Hope for early Ukraine talks under US mediation
Russia says it hopes for a speedy resumption of US-brokered peace talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says they expect negotiations to continue in the foreseeable future and will remain in contact with US representatives. At the weekend, the USA sent negotiators to Moscow and Kiev to get the process, which had been stalled since February, back on track. US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone on Tuesday.
Bianca Hugo
Air alert in Kyiv: Baden-Württemberg's interior minister has to go to the bunker
Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Manuel Hagel (CDU) traveled to Kiev with a delegation - and felt the effects of the war in the Ukrainian capital firsthand. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said they had to go into a bunker that night because there were air raids on Kiev.
