Ukraine war briefing: Russia launches attacks on Kyiv and Odesa a day after massive drone bombardment

Kyiv and the port city of Odesa came under “massive” drone attacks from Russia early Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said. An AFP journalist in central Kyiv heard at least a dozen of explosions and gunfire, as air defences tried to down the drones. Buildings and cars in several districts were burning and debris fell near a school. Russian strikes on Odesa hit maternity and medical facilities that had been evacuated, local officials said, reporting no casualties there.

The attack came a day after Russia launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, according to the Ukrainian air force, as the Kremlin presses ahead with its summer offensive. In addition to the 479 drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine from Sunday to Monday, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas.

A recent escalation in aerial attacks has coincided with a renewed Russian battlefield push along eastern and northeastern parts of the roughly 1,000-km, (620-mile) frontline. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late on Sunday that in some of those areas, “the situation is very difficult.” He provided no details.

Amid direct peace talks that have yet to deliver progress on stopping the fighting, Russia and Ukraine swapped another batch of prisoners of war Monday. Those who were swapped included wounded soldiers, as well as those under 25, Zelenskyy said. “The process is quite complicated, there are many sensitive details, negotiations continue virtually every day,” he added.

The exchange was the result of direct talks between the two sides in Istanbul on 2 June that resulted in an agreement to exchange at least 1,200 PoW on each side and to repatriate thousands of bodies of those killed in Russia’s war in Ukraine. Neither side said how many prisoners had been swapped on Monday.

Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said early on Tuesday it temporarily halted flights at all four major airports serving Moscow to ensure safety, after the defence ministry said Ukraine was carrying out a drone attack on Russia.

Russia is determined to test the resolve of the Nato alliance, including by extending its confrontation with the West beyond the borders of Ukraine, Germany’s foreign intelligence chief told the Table Media news organisation. Bruno Kahl, the head of the Federal Intelligence Service, said his agency had clear intelligence indications that Russian officials believed the collective defence obligations enshrined in the Nato treaty no longer had practical force. “We are quite certain, and we have intelligence showing it, that Ukraine is only a step on the journey westward,” Kahl told Table Media in a podcast interview.
“That doesn’t mean we expect tank armies to roll westwards,” he added. “But we see that Nato’s collective defence promise is to be tested.”

Germany, already the second-largest provider of armaments and financial support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, has pledged to step up its support further under the new government of chancellor Friedrich Merz, promising to help Ukraine develop new missiles that could strike deep into Russian territory.