Closing summary
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has spoken about the situation in Israel, drawing parallels with the war in Ukraine by stating that “Israel’s right to self-defence is unquestionable”. He noted that his government had set up an operational headquarters to aid any Ukrainians in Israel. Officials have estimated that about 15,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled to Israel.
A United Russia party official in the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson oblast was killed in a car explosion on Saturday, the Russian-installed regional governor said. Vladimir Malov, executive secretary of the town branch of Russia’s governing United Russia party, died in hospital, Vladimir Saldo said in a post on his Telegram channel. Saldo called the explosion a “terrorist attack”, meaning he was putting the blame on Ukraine Kyiv has not claimed responsibility.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former leader, called today for a civil war in the US, as he said a civil war would be the only thing that could stop “America’s manic passion for sparking conflicts everywhere on the planet”.
Train traffic between North Korea and Russia has dramatically increased after the recent following summit between leaders Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, indicating a “likely” transfer of arms, according to a new report by Washington-based analysts. High-resolution satellite imagery reveals at least 70 freight cars at North Korea’s border Tumangang rail facility, the Beyond Parallel group said on Friday, a number described as “unprecedented”.
A man was killed in the morning shelling of the village of Urazovo in Russia’s Belgorod oblast, the regional governor said. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the attack came from Ukrainian forces, but the Guardian could not independently verify those claims. Ukraine typically does not claim responsibility for strikes on Russia. A utility building, a storage facility and one social facility were destroyed in the attack, and 14 private households were damaged, Gladkov said.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna, posted on X yesterday that Russia is planning to revoke ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation. “The aim is to be on equal footing with the US, who signed the treaty but didn’t ratify it,” he said. “Revocation doesn’t mean the intention to resume nuclear tests.” The US warned that Russia revoking its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation will endanger “the global norm” against nuclear test blasts.
One woman was killed and two more people injured in the Russian shelling of the village of Bilenke in the Zaporizhzhia oblast this morning, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration said on Telegram. A private house and outbuildings were damaged in the attack, said Yuriy Malashko.
A 10-year-old boy and his grandmother have been killed and more than 20 people wounded after a Russian missile attack on an apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials have said. Rescuers found the boy’s body under debris after the strike on the north-eastern city’s densely populated downtown area early on Friday. Two Iskander missiles hit the flats in what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called another act of “Russian terror”.
The death toll from a Russian missile strike on Hroza village in Kharkiv province the previous day rose to 52 on Friday after another victim died overnight in hospital, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said. A missile slammed into a cafe and grocery store in the village on Thursday as people gathered to mourn a fallen Ukrainian soldier. Separately, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said people from every family in Hroza had been affected by the attack.
Russian forces launched an overnight missile strike on Ukraine’s southern Odesa oblast, damaging port infrastructure, the regional governor said early on Saturday.Four people were wounded in the strike, which hit a boarding house and a portside grain facility, said Oleh Kiper. Debris from the rockets and the blast wave caused a fire in the garage cooperative and damaged several apartment buildings.
Updated
The past few days have been filled with death and destruction in Ukraine. The village of Bilenke in the Zaporizhzhia oblast was hit hard on Saturday morning in Russian shelling that killed at least one woman and caused widespread destruction. People in Hroza in Kharkiv oblast are in mourning after a missile strike killed at least 10% of the small village of 500 residents.
Here are some images of the aftermath.
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