Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Drone attacks on Kiev, NATO members call for long-range strikes against Russia

Officials said several people were killed and at least 14 were injured in the eastern town of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast.

Kupiansk, 22 miles (35 kilometers) from the Russian border, was attacked in the afternoon, causing damage to hotels, residential buildings, cars, shops and other civilian infrastructure.

“Kupyansk was hit by a guided airstrike. The city center is in shambles and people are buried under the rubble. Unfortunately, lives have been lost,” Zelensky said in an evening speech.

He did not confirm the death toll.

Several explosions were heard in Kiev this morning amid air raid sirens, and drone debris landed on a playground.

Ukraine’s air defense forces have been active in the capital and extensive areas of Kyiv Oblast, according to officials. Kyiv Independent.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said debris from the drone landed on a playground in the capital’s Dniprovsky district, but no one was injured.

Some NATO members have reportedly called for lifting restrictions on Russia’s use of long-range missiles.

The NATO-Ukraine Council met yesterday and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “The allies reaffirmed today that they will step up military assistance to Ukraine.

“We must continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment and ammunition it needs to defend against a Russian aggression. This is critical to Ukraine’s ability to continue to fight,” he said.

Several NATO countries have called for Ukraine to be allowed to use weapons provided by Western allies, particularly long-range missiles, a diplomatic source told AFP.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stressed that Russia is using long-range weapons against Ukraine.

He urged allies to “let Ukraine fight with everything it has, fight with everything we offer them, and let us offer them even more.”

The United States has restricted its supply of long-range ballistic missiles to Ukraine because Ukraine wants to aim those missiles at military targets inside Russia.

In his latest speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to lift restrictions on long-range air strikes on Ukraine.

“We continue to maintain that taking decisive action now to lift restrictions on long-range strikes against Ukraine will help us end the war as quickly as possible and in a way that is fair to Ukraine and the world,” he said.

Russia says its troops have dismantled unexploded U.S. munitions fired by Ukraine that were shot down just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant, which Moscow accuses of trying to attack.

The announcement was made by Russia’s National Guard, which showed video of unexploded ordnance and sappers detonating the munitions.

The news came a day after the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, visited the plant and said it was vulnerable to attack because it lacked a shield that could protect it from missiles, drones or artillery fire.

Ukraine has not yet commented on the Russian discovery and Reuters was unable to independently verify where the video was filmed.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that in view of the United States’ anti-Russian stance, it has banned 92 American citizens from entering Russia, including journalists, lawyers and the heads of what Russia calls important military-industrial enterprises.

The list published by the ministry on Telegram includes 14 Wall Street Journal employees, five senior New York Times reporters and four Washington Post journalists.

The Wall Street Journal, whose reporter Evan Gershkovich was released this month in a prisoner swap after spending 16 months in Russian custody, called the bans “ridiculous” and an attack on press freedom.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was targeting editorial staff and journalists at “major liberal globalist publications” who were involved in producing and spreading “false information” about Russia’s armed forces.

The report said that the bans were a response to the Biden administration’s “anti-Russian policy”, an important part of which was to impose comprehensive sanctions on Russian politicians, business people, scientists and journalists.

“We remind the current U.S. authorities that hostile acts will inevitably be punished, whether it is direct encouragement to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky and his followers to commit acts of aggression and terror, or attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

In a statement, a Wall Street Journal spokesperson said: “The Putin regime’s sweeping assault on press freedom and the truth is nothing short of ridiculous. This ludicrous target list is no exception.”

Ukrainian troops shot down a Russian Su-25 jet in the Kramatorsk region of Donetsk Oblast, Khortytsia forces reported.

When the aircraft tried to fire at Ukrainian troops, air defense forces of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade reportedly shot it down using man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS).

The Soviet-designed Su-25, nicknamed “Frogfoot” by NATO, is a heavily armored ground-attack aircraft that has been used extensively by both sides in the all-out war between Russia and Ukraine.

Sir Keir Starmer and Olaf Scholz said Britain and Germany’s support for Ukraine remained “unwavering”.

Ukraine is not only fighting to defend itself against Russian aggression, but is also fighting “for all the people of Europe,” the chancellors said at a joint press conference in Berlin.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the two countries would continue to provide “financial, economic, political and military support” as long as necessary.

Moscow has vowed to keep fighting in Ukraine and rejected claims by Volodymyr Zelensky that Kiev was submitting a plan to Washington on how to end the war.

Zelensky has previously said the Russian aggression will eventually end with dialogue, but Kiev must be in a position of strength and that he will present a plan to U.S. President Joe Biden and his two potential successors.

“This is not the first time we hear such statements from representatives of the Kiev regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“We understand the nature of the Kiev regime. We will continue our special military operations and will achieve all our goals.”