Extract from ABC News
Russia launched an exceptionally intense air attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, using drones, cruise and probably ballistic missiles, city officials said, as the Ukrainian capital suffered its eighth air raid this month.
Key points:
- Russia fired six ballistic missiles from aircraft, nine cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three missiles from land
- Ukraine says it shot down all 18 missiles fired at Kyiv
- Three people were injured but there have been no reports of deaths from the Russian strike on Kyiv
"It was exceptional in its density — the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app.
"According to preliminary information, the vast majority of enemy targets in the airspace of Kyiv were detected and destroyed!"
Ukraine forces shot down all 18 missiles of various types that Russia launched in its concentrated overnight attack, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on Tuesday.
Russia launched six Kinzhal ballistic missiles from aircraft, nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three Iskander land-based missiles, Mr Zaluzhnyi said.
The Kinzhal, which means "dagger" in Russian, is one of six "next generation" weapons unveiled by President Vladimir Putin in 2018 when the Russian leader boasted that it could not be shot down by any of the world's air defence systems.
Ukraine's Air Force said six Iranian-made Shahed drones were also shot down, as well as three reconnaissance drones.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.
"The enemy's mission is to sow panic and create chaos. However, in the northern operational zone (including Kyiv), everything is under complete control," General Serhiy Naev, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces, said.
After a weeks-long hiatus, Russia in late April resumed its tactic of long-range missile strikes and has launched a flurry of attacks in recent days, often targeting Kyiv.
Ukraine has been able to repel vast majority of the attacks so far.
On Tuesday, falling debris was reported in Kyiv's Obolonskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Solomyanskyi and Darnytskyi districts, officials said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said falling debris set several cars on fire and damaged a building in the Solomyanskyi district in the capital's west.
Three people were injured.
Mr Klitschko said that south of Boryspil, air defence systems were repelling a drone attack.
Boryspil, a city just southeast of Kyiv, is home to the capital's main passenger airport, which is now closed.
The damage in other districts was not significant and there was no immediate information on potential casualties there, the military administration said.
Air raid sirens blared across nearly all of Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday, and were heard over Kyiv and its region for more than three hours.
Indian fuels made with Russian oil sold to EU
The European Union should crack down on India reselling Russian oil into Europe as refined fuels including diesel, EU's high representative for foreign policy Josep Borrell, said.
India has in the past year emerged as a top buyer of Russian oil, which has been rejected by Western nations amid sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Access to cheap Russian crude has boosted output and profits at Indian refineries, enabling them to export refined products competitively to Europe and take bigger market share.
"If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe … coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures," the bloc's chief diplomat said.
"That India buys Russian oil, it's normal … But if they use that in order to be a centre where Russian oil is being refined and by-products are being sold to us … we have to act."
India's imports of Russian crude in March rose for the seventh straight month to end out the fiscal year as top supplier to India, displacing Iraq for the first time.
India typically exported an average of 154,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel to Europe before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
However, that has increased to 200,000 barrels per day after the EU banned Russian oil products imports from February 5 this year.
"If they sell, it is because someone is buying. And we have to look at who is buying," Mr Borrell said.
Top Chinese envoy to visit Ukraine, Russia
A top Chinese envoy was due to begin a tour of Ukraine, Russia and other European countries on Monday in a trip Beijing said was aimed at discussing a "political settlement" to the Ukraine crisis.
Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, will also visit Poland, France, Germany on the multi-day trip, the foreign ministry announced on Friday without providing a detailed schedule.
He is the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, and his trip could coincide with the beginnings of a long anticipated counteroffensive by Ukraine to recapture territory seized by Russia.
Mr Li was set to visit Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday (local time), a Ukrainian government official told Reuters on Monday, declining to provide further details.
The visit comes weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in late April, in the first talks between the two leaders since the war began.
Mr Zelenskyy described the call as "long and meaningful", while Mr Xi said China would focus on promoting peace, although Beijing's proposals to end the conflict have been met with some skepticism in the West given its ties with Russia.
However, several European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, have urged Mr Xi to speak with Mr Zelenskyy and play a more active role in restraining Moscow's actions during a string of visits to the Chinese capital from March onwards.
Since February, Beijing has heavily promoted a 12-point proposal for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
But the plan, launched on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion, was largely a reiteration of China's previous lines on the war.
It urged both sides to agree to a gradual de-escalation and warned against the use of nuclear weapons.
Kyiv has ruled out the idea of any territorial concessions to Russia and has said it wants every inch of its land back.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and since last year has claimed to have annexed four other Ukrainian regions, which Moscow now calls Russian land.
Throughout the war, China has refrained from condemning its strategic ally Moscow or referring to its actions as an "invasion", leading to criticism from European countries and the United States which have questioned China's credibility as a potential broker in the conflict.
Reuters/ABC
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