Putin launches biggest drone attack on Kyiv since war began – latest on Ukraine war

Russian forces continued to pound the battered Ukrainian town of Avdiivka but were unable to breach the defence of Ukraine’s troops as heavy fighting engulfed Bakhmut, military officials said.

“Basically, nothing has changed. Everything is very tough. As regards the city, there is an average number of eight to 16 to 18 attacks per day. Sometimes 30. We don’t have the time to count them,” said Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka’s military administration.

One of the men, Denis Gorin, was recruited into a private military company after signing a contract with the Russian ministry of defence but is known to have been convicted thrice for murdering at least four people between 2003 and 2022. He was also convicted of eating the remains of his victims along with his brother, reported Sibir Realii, a news outlet aligned with Radio Free Europe.

He is the 17th person convicted for murder to be pardoned by the Russian president between 2022 and 2023. “At the trial, he (Gorin) admitted that they ate the murdered man who was their acquaintance,” said his neighbour Dmitry Vladimirovich.

The president of Switzerland has arrived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to meet Volodymyr Zelensky and attend an international summit on food security as Russian drones were intercepted over the capital.

Alain Berset posted a picture of his arrival at Kyiv’s main train station this morning.

He had written earlier that he had arrived in the capital.

“Arrival in Kyiv where I will be attending the international summit on food security today and meeting President Zelensky,” he wrote.

“The focus is on the impact of Russia’s war of aggression on global food security and Switzerland’s long-term support for Ukraine.”

Ukraine launched one of the biggest drone attacks on the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula since the full-scale war that started with Russia’s invasion 21 months ago, Russian officials said Friday.

At the same time, Ukrainian officials reported that the Kremlin’s forces escalated their weekslong and costly attempt to storm Avdiivka, a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine.

The stepped-up efforts came as both sides are keen to show they are not deadlocked as the fighting approaches 2024. Neither side has gained much ground despite a Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in June, and analysts predict the war will be a long one.

Here are some of the latest photos from Kyiv after Russia’s six-hour drone attack.

The world’s attention must “stay on Ukraine” as the Russian invasion continues, a former Nato secretary-general has warned.

Lord George Robertson said Russian President Vladimir Putin would be emboldened to extend the attacks beyond Ukraine if foreign governments stop providing weaponry.

Lord Robertson, who was in the top Nato role between 1999 and 2003, said: “I think it is inevitable that because we’re seeing the television from Gaza every day, that people are paying less attention to Ukraine, but that must change.

“We have got to keep the world’s attention focused on Ukraine because they are involved in a fight with Russia that has got huge implications for all of us as well.

“Vladimir Putin is not simply interested in subjugating Ukraine. He has got a much bigger agenda in the future, and if he succeeds in Ukraine, who knows where he is going to stop.”

The conflict in Ukraine has now surpassed 640 days – the invasion began in February 2022 – and Lord Robertson urged Nato member states to continue to press Russia amid Mr Putin’s “miserable failure”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of being “proud of its ability to kill people” after it launched a significant drone attack against Kyiv this morning during the remembrance day for those killed in the Holodomor genocide.

As the fourth Saturday of November, today marks the Day of Memory for Victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine, honouring those killed in a famine in Ukraine manufactured by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

Estimates suggest that more than three million people, many of whom were farmers and rural villagers, were killed by forced starvation.

At least five people have been injured as a result of Russian drone attacks on Kyiv, including an 11-year-old child, the local mayor has claimed.

Vitali Klitschko said all five were “receiving medical assistance on the spot or in the trauma centre, without further hospitalistion”.

He wrote on Telegram: “The enemy continues to terrorise. To intimidate us, sow panic and decay in our cities and towns.

“But it won’t be like that! We work for the livelihood of communities, we support each other, together we bring Victory closer!”

Russia has fired nearly 100 Iranian-made kamikaze drones overnight, mainly on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Local reports suggested air raid sirens began at around 3am. Mayor Vilati Klitschko wrote at 3.25: “It’s loud in the capital. Several more groups of ‘Shaheeds’ (Iranian drones) are going to Kyiv. Stay in shelters!”

Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleschuk said roughly 75 Shahed-131 and 136s were launched overnight, with at least 71 “destroyed by air defence”.

“On this night, November 25, 2023, the enemy released a record number of strike UAVs over Ukraine!” he wrote on Telegram. “The main direction of the attack is Kyiv!”

Drone engines and explosions were heard overnight in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in what the country’s air force said was Vladimir Putin’s biggest drone attack yet.

The air force said Iran-made Shahed drones were used in the assault that mainly targeted Kyiv, and hit at least three of the capital’s districts.

The mass drone attack struck apartment complexes and falling drone fragments set fire to a children’s nursery, said Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Two people were also injured in the attack due to the falling drone fragments.