Russia and Ukraine trade drone strikes as Zelenskyy calls on allies for ‘unwavering’ aid
Andre Luis Alves/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Ukrainian authorities said that at least 23 people were injured and 41 buildings damaged by a Russian missile strike in the northeastern city of Kharkiv overnight into Monday, as Moscow’s troops launched a fresh offensive effort in the region and claimed battlefield gains all along the eastern front.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that the S-400 anti-aircraft missile impact in Kharkiv was part of a multi-pronged barrage against Ukrainian cities overnight. Kyiv, Odessa and Zaporizhzhia were all also targeted.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 145 drones, 71 of which were downed and 71 were lost during flight. One UAV flew into Belarusian airspace, the air force said.
The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed to have downed 23 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions. The ministry also said it downed eight ballistic missiles, though did not specify their type.
Vladislav Shapsha, the governor of Kaluga Oblast that borders Moscow Oblast to the southwest, said falling drone debris sparked a fire at a manufacturing facility. Ukraine’s General Staff, though, said its strikes destroyed the Kaluganefteproduct oil depot in the city of Kaluga.
“In total, since yesterday evening, Russia has used about one and a half hundred attack drones, aerial bombs and missiles against more than 10 of our regions,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram early Monday.
“These attacks by Russia on Ukrainian life can be stopped,” he added. “With pressure, sanctions, blocking the occupiers’ access to the components they use to create the tools of this terror, arms packages for Ukraine and a determination that must be unwavering.”
Only 19 miles from the Russian border, Ukraine’s “second city” of Kharkiv has faced near-constant attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022.
Russian forces failed to encircle and capture Kharkiv during the opening weeks of the invasion, but fighting has continued along the shared border throughout the conflict.
Ukraine’s General Staff said in a post to Facebook on Monday that Russian forces launched assaults the settlement of Kozacha Lopan, around 2 miles from the border and 16 miles north of Kharkiv.
The Ukrainian Deep State Telegram military blogger reported that Russian forces also launched an amphibious operation across the Oskil River in eastern Kharkiv region, where Russian troops have been pushing towards the strategic objective of Kupyansk.
The Russian force established a foothold on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the waterway, Deep State wrote. The blogger’s claims could not be immediately be verified.
Ukraine State Emergency Service/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON and KYIV) — Russia on Thursday launched what officials in Kyiv said was an intercontinental ballistic missile toward southeastern Ukraine, but a U.S. official told ABC News that Russia launched “an experimental medium-range ballistic missile against Ukraine” near Dnipro.
The official said the United States briefed Ukraine and other close allies and partners in recent days on Russia’s possible use of this weapon in order to help them prepare. According to the official, Russia likely only possesses “a handful” of these experimental missiles.
Two U.S. officials previously told ABC News it was not an ICBM but instead an intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM.
The launch raises the prospect of nuclear weapons; IRBMs or ICBMs can both be equipped with nuclear warheads. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the ballistic missile Russia fired at Dnipro contained MIRVs, or multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, meaning it had multiple warheads that hit the target. MIRV technology is used in ICBMs to use multiple nuclear warheads atop the missile so they can strike multiple targets. The missile used Thursday did not carry nuclear warheads.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in remarks Thursday following the missile launch, said Russia has the right to use its weapons against the military facilities of countries employing their weapons against Russia.
“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military objects of those countries that allow to use their own weapons against our objects. In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in a mirror manner,” Putin said.
Putin said Russia used “one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems” in an attack on Ukraine, adding that it was a “ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic equipment” and that the “test was successful.”
Russia warned the U.S. 30 minutes before the launch of its new “Oreshnik” missile against targets in Dnipro, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news outlet TASS.
The Kremlin announced earlier this week that Putin had updated the country’s nuclear doctrine, a move that lowered the bar for Russia to respond with nuclear weapons. Russian ICBMs are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, although it appeared the missile fired on Thursday was not equipped with one.
Ukraine’s military was “95% sure” the strike on Thursday was with an ICBM, a Ukrainian official told ABC News, but added that they were still examining the missile parts on the ground and had not yet reached a final conclusion.
“Today it was a new Russian missile. All the parameters: speed, altitude — match those of an intercontinental ballistic missile,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media. “All expert evaluations are underway.”
The Ukrainian Air Force announced Thursday morning it had tracked the launch of the ICBM, along with six additional missiles, all of which were targeting the Dnipro region. The ICBM appeared to have been launched from the Astrahan region, in Russia’s southwest, Ukrainian military officials said.
All of the missiles were launched in about two hours, beginning at about 5 a.m. local time, Ukraine said.
All were targeted at businesses and critical infrastructure, but only the missile that Ukraine identified as an ICBM struck the city, Ukraine said. The six other missiles were shot down. There were no reports of casualties or significant damage, officials said.
The U.S. officials said the assessment of the launch, the type of missile and warhead, and the damage in Dnipro was continuing. The distance from what Ukraine said was the launch point to the strike location in Dnipro is about 600 miles, a distance shorter than what an ICBM would be expected to travel.
Two experts told ABC News the projectile, seen in video circulating online, looks likely to be “a ballistic missile with MIRV-ed capabilities.”
The launch of an ICBM, if confirmed as such, would arrive amid concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could further escalate. This week, Ukraine’s military for the first time launched U.S.-made ATACMS missiles toward targets within Russia, days after U.S. President Joe Biden allowed for such use of the long-range weapons.
Putin, in his remarks Thursday, blamed the U.S. for escalating the conflict, saying: “I would like to emphasize once again that it was not Russia, but the United States that destroyed the international security system. And by continuing to fight, cling to their hegemony, they are pushing the whole world into a global conflict.”
Kyiv on Tuesday launched six of the ATACMS at targets within Russian territory, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Zelenskyy said he would not confirm if Ukraine had used ATACMS to conduct a strike on an ammunition depot in the Bryansk region of Russia, but said Ukraine has ATACMS and “will use all of these” against Russia.
Within hours of Russia announcing it had struck down five of the ATACMS on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Putin had updated the country’s nuclear doctrine.
Following that warning, Ukraine on Wednesday fired long-range British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia for the first time, a Ukrainian military unit involved in the operation told ABC News. At least 10 of those missiles hit an estate in the village of Marino, the unit said.
They were targeting a command post where North Korean army generals and officers were present, the unit said. More than 10,000 North Korean troops are said to be operating alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region.
Ukraine’s 413th Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion, which helped provide fire control for the strikes, told ABC News that there was intelligence showing high-ranking North Koreans were present.
Zelenskyy cast the Russian strike on Thursday as a result of Russia and its leader being “terrified.”
“Obviously, Putin is terrified when normal life simply exists next to him. When people simply have dignity. When a country simply wants to be and has the right to be independent,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin is doing whatever it takes to prevent his neighbor from breaking free of his grasp.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Lauren Minore, Yulia Drozd, Natasha Popova, Tanya Stukalova and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(UNITED KINGDOM) — The teenage suspect accused of fatally stabbing three children at a Taylor Swift-themed event in the United Kingdom in July now faces a terror charge for allegedly possessing a jihadi training manual, police said Tuesday.
The suspect — Axel Rudakubana, aged 18, from Banks in Lancashire — is also newly charged with producing ricin, a deadly poison, police said.
Rudakubana was previously charged with three counts of murder, 10 charges of attempted murder and one charge of possession of a knife in connection with the July stabbing spree in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool.
The two new charges announced Tuesday “relate to evidence obtained by Merseyside Police during searches” of his home, police said. A PDF file entitled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual” was allegedly found, according to police. An unknown substance found in the home was also determined through testing to be ricin, police said.
“Following the announcement of the further charges today I wanted to reassure the public of Southport, and Merseyside, that we are committed to achieving justice for the families of Bebe, Elsie and Alice, the 10 victims who were injured at the Hart Space in Southport on that Monday, in July, and the other 16 people who were present,” Chief Constable Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday.
Rudakubana is scheduled to have a virtual court appearance on Wednesday, police said.
Kennedy said police have not declared the attack a “terrorist incident” and cautioned the public against speculating on a motive in the case.
“I recognize that the new charges may lead to speculation,” she said. “The matter for which Axel Rudakubana has been charged with under the Terrorism Act does not require motive to be established. For a matter to be declared a terrorist incident, motivation would need to be established.”
Merseyside police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school when the attack occurred.
Kennedy said no ricin was found at the site.
“We have worked extensively with partners to establish that there was a low to very low risk to the public — and I want to make that reassurance clear today,” Kennedy said.
The trial is scheduled to begin in January 2025.
Swift met with family members of the victims and those injured in the attack while she was performing at Wembley Stadium in August.
(LONDON) — Israeli forces continued their intense operations inside Gaza after Hamas leader and Oct. 7, 2023 attack mastermind Yahya Sinwar was killed in a firefight with Israeli forces.
The development comes as Israel continues intense air and ground campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and mulls its response to Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.
‘Beirut in flames’ after night of airstrikes, foreign minister says
“Beirut in flames,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Monday following an intense night of airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.
“A wide-scale Israeli attack targeted Hezbollah’s financial infrastructure in Beirut and across Lebanon last night,” Katz said.
“Massive fires were seen above Beirut as over 15 buildings were struck following evacuation warnings to residents,” the foreign minister wrote.
“Hezbollah has paid and will continue to pay a heavy price for its attacks on northern Israel and its rocket fire. We will keep striking the Iranian proxy until it collapses.”
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
IDF claims ‘dozens’ of strikes on Hezbollah financial targets
Israel Defense Forces warplanes launched “a series of targeted, intelligence-based strikes against dozens of facilities and sites used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to finance its terrorist activities,” the IDF said in a Monday post to X.
The Sunday night strikes hit targets in Beirut, southern Lebanon and elsewhere “deep within” the country, the IDF added.
The IDF said the targets were linked to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, which Israel has accused of acting as a key financier of Hezbollah activities.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
US investigating intelligence leak on Israel’s alleged plan to attack Iran
Documents purporting to show classified U.S. intelligence-gathering on Israel’s preparations for a possible retaliatory strike against Iran appeared on social media platforms late last week.
The impact of the circulation of these documents on current and future planning by the Israeli military is unclear at this time.
U.S. officials declined to comment on the situation when reached by ABC News. However, a law enforcement source on Sunday confirmed with ABC News that there is an investigation underway.
Markings on the documents indicate that they would have originated from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which collects, analyzes and distributes intelligence gleaned from satellite and aerial imagery.
If the documents are authentic, it would indicate a major intelligence breach.
According to Mick Mulroy, an ABC News national security and defense contributor, who served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East: “The future coordination between the U.S. and Israel could be challenged, as well.”
The Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation and a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all declined to comment when contacted by ABC News.
House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on CNN Sunday and acknowledged that there is an investigation underway into the possible intelligence leak, adding, “We’re following it closely.”
-ABC News’ T. Michelle Murphy
IDF says it’s targeting infrastructure in Lebanon of group allegedly financing Hezbollah
The Israel Defense Forces announced it was targeting infrastructure Sunday night in Lebanon that has been linked to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, an organization it alleges is involved in financing Hezbollah.
The United States placed sanctions on the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association in May 2021 related to financing Hezbollah activities.
The Al-Qard Al-Hassan group has 31 branches in Lebanon — including in Beirut and Bekaa, officials said. At least one strike was reported Sunday evening in the Chyah neighborhood of Beirut.
“The ‘Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association’ is involved in financing the terrorist activities of the Hezbollah organization against Israel, and therefore the IDF has decided to attack this terrorist infrastructure,” the IDF said in a statement Sunday. “The IDF continues to work forcefully to destroy Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure. Therefore, we call on people inside buildings used by Hezbollah to stay at least 500 meters away from them for the next few hours.”
