Russia fires 705 missiles, drones into Ukraine in ‘complex’ attack, Zelenskyy says
Margaryta Galych/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Russia bombarded Ukrainian cities with 705 missiles and drones overnight into Thursday, according to Ukraine’s air force, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reporting strikes on civilian targets and energy infrastructure all across the country.
Russia launched 653 drones and 52 missiles of various types in its attack, Ukraine’s air force said. Of those, 592 drones and 31 missiles were shot down or otherwise suppressed, the air force said. Sixteen missiles and 63 drones impacted across 20 locations, the air force said.
Wednesday night’s attack was the second-largest Russian drone and missile barrage of the full-scale invasion to date, according to Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News.
Only the bombardment of the night of Sept. 6 to 7 — in which Russia launched a combined total of 823 drones and missiles into Ukraine — was larger.
Zelenskyy said attacks were reported in the capital Kyiv and at least nine other Ukrainian regions, stretching from frontline areas in the southeast of the country to the border with Poland in the west.
“It was a complex, combined strike,” Zelenskyy said in a post to social media. At least two people were killed in a strike on a residential building in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, with “tens of people” injured, the president said.
“There have also been many vile strikes on energy facilities and civilian life across the regions,” Zelenskyy wrote. “All the necessary services are deployed on the sites. All efforts should be made to restore power and water supply as swiftly as possible wherever it’s been disrupted.”
“Russia continues its terrorist war against life itself, and it’s crucial that every such vile attack on civilians boomerangs back on Russia with concrete consequences — sanctions and real pressure,” Zelenskyy continued.
“We count on America, Europe, and the G7 countries not to ignore this,” he wrote. “New steps are needed to increase pressure — on Russia’s oil and gas industry, its financial system and through secondary sanctions on those who bankroll this war.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down at least 173 Ukrainian drones overnight into Thursday. Nine were downed over the Moscow region, including six that were “heading to Moscow,” the ministry said.
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica early Tuesday afternoon as a Category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph — the most powerful hurricane to strike the Caribbean island nation and one of the strongest on record in the Atlantic Basin.
The storm is anticipated to bring catastrophic winds, rain, flooding and storm surge to Jamaica, where residents and tourists are sheltering in place.
But the island is no stranger to dealing with destructive storms. Several hurricanes over the past several decades have struck Jamaica, causing fatalities and billions of dollars of damage.
Hurricane Beryl: July 3, 2024 Hurricane Beryl — the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season — battered Jamaica when it passed just south of the island as a Category 4 storm.
Beryl slammed the island with up with 130 mph winds, between 8 inches and 12 inches of rainfall and a storm surge that sent ocean water rushing into coastal areas, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm ripped roofs off of buildings and sent several feet of floodwater onto roadways in low-lying areas.
At least four people died in Jamaica as a result of the storm, three due to freshwater flooding and one due to rain, while more than 1,000 people were evacuated to shelters, according to officials.
In the aftermath of the storm, about 60% of the island was without electricity, and 20% of the population lacked access to clean water due to the storm’s impact on the piped water network, according to a situation report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Healthcare on the island was also compromised, with 82 healthcare facilities reporting major damage. Minor damage was reported at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
Beryl’s damage was especially extensive in rural parts of Jamaica, where debris from destroyed homes littered the landscape and banana and coconut farms were severely damaged, according to the United Nations. An estimated 45,000 farmers were impacted, with $15.9 million in damage done to farming infrastructure that led to food shortages, according to the report.
The storm tallied about $995 million in damage to infrastructure, homes and in lost revenue, according to the National Hurricane Center. Beryl caused also caused a 1.1% drop in Jamaica’s GDP, according to the U.K.’s Centre for Disaster Protection.
Beryl was the strongest storm to hit Jamaica since Hurricane Dean in 2007, Rhea Pierre, disaster manager for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in the aftermath.
Hurricane Dean: Aug. 20, 2007 Hurricane Dean passed just south of Jamaica on Aug. 20, 2007, bringing powerful winds, heavy rains and storm surge to the region.
The storm was so strong that there are “few authoritative observations” for its passage over Jamaica because many of the instruments did not survive the storm, according to the NHC.
The weather station tower at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston was blown over the day before the storm passed the island, and numerous rain gouges were either blown over or washed away.
The highest rainfall report was 13.5 inches in Manchester Parish in West-Central Jamaica, according to the NHC.
The NHC estimates that Dean was a Category 3 hurricane when it impacted Jamaica, with maximum sustained winds of 111-129 mph, per the Saffir-Simpson scale. The most severe impacts were reported in the southeastern parishes of Clarendon, St. Catherine, Kingston and St. Andrew. About two-thirds of the homes that were completely destroyed or required major repairs were located in those parishes.
Agriculture was also significantly impacted, particularly the banana crops, according to the NHC.
Six people died in Jamaica as a result of Hurricane Dean, according to the University of West Indies.
The storm caused damage in all 13 of the island’s parishes, according to USAID. More than 3,120 homes were damaged, while a significant portion of the island’s farmland was also affected, with about 40% of the sugarcane crop, 75% of coffee trees and 100% of the banana crop impacted.
Hurricane Gilbert: Sept. 12, 1988
Before Melissa, Hurricane Gilbert was the strongest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall on Jamaica.
The massive storm made landfall on the island’s east coast near Kingston around 1 p.m. on Sept. 12, 1988, as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The eye of the hurricane traversed the entire island, with its winds weakening only to 125 mph by the time is exited Jamaica’s western coast several hours later. The storm triggered a massive storm surge, mudslides and heavy rains that caused inland flash flooding, according to the NWS.
At least 45 deaths were attributed to Gilbert, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The eye of the hurricane traversed the entire island, with its winds weakening only to 125 mph by the time is exited Jamaica’s western coast several hours later. The storm triggered a massive storm surge, mudslides and heavy rains that caused inland flash flooding, according to the NWS.
At least 45 deaths were attributed to Gilbert, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Gilbert damaged 40% of Jamaica’s agricultural fields and 95% of the island’s medical facilities, according to Hurricanes: Science and Society. Two of Jamaica’s hospitals were completely destroyed, while only two of those remaining escaped with minimal damage. In addition, about 50% of the island’s water supply was destroyed, including storage and distribution facilities.
More than 100,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, as were hundreds of miles of roads and highways, The New York Times reported at the time.
The destruction amounted to an estimated $4 billion in damages to crops, buildings, roads, homes and other infrastructure, according to Hurricanes: Science and Society.
Jamaica Prime Minister Edward P. G. Seaga described Hurricane Gilbert at the time as “the worst disaster in our modern history.”
Hurricane Charlie: Aug. 17, 1951 The center of Hurricane Charlie skirted the southern coast of Jamaica on the night of Aug. 17, 1951, before it made landfall early the next morning as a strong Category 3 storm, bringing destructive winds to the entirety of the island, according to the NHC. The strongest winds at Kingston were measured at 110 mph.
Heavy rainfall that lingered after the hurricane passed caused landslides across the island, according to the University of West Indies.
Charlie was the deadliest storm of the 20th century to impact Jamaica, resulting in more than 150 deaths on the island, according to the NHC. About 2,000 people were homeless in the storm’s aftermath.
The hurricane caused about $50 million in property and crop damage to the island, according to the NHC. Banana farms, coconut plantations and citrus groves perished in the storm.
Considerable damage was also done to shipping in the Kingston Harbor, with five large vessels pushed ashore, according to the University of West Indies.
Yevhen Titov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The United States-proposed Russia-Ukraine peace plan now has fewer points following negotiations in Switzerland to try to make the draft proposal more acceptable to Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official close to the matter.
The initial 28-point peace plan now has 19 points, according to the official. It is unclear what points were removed.
U.S., European and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva to discuss the contentious proposal put to Kyiv last week, with terms critics say would constitute a Ukrainian capitulation.
On Monday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at headway being made. “Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine???” he wrote on social media.
“Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” Trump added.
The talks come as fighting continues to wage in the nearly four-year war. At least four people were killed and 17 were injured in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv in what the local mayor called a “massive” Russian drone attack on Sunday night.
“Every night and every day bring new challenges for our city, new destructions and new work,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a post to Telegram.
Kharkiv was among the targets of Russia’s latest overnight attack, which Ukraine’s air force said saw 162 drones launched into the country. Air defenses shot down or suppressed 125 drones, the air force said, with 37 craft impacting across 15 locations.
“The most damage was suffered by civilian infrastructure and private households in the Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions,” the air force said in a post to Telegram. “Unfortunately, there are civilian casualties.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down at least 103 Ukrainian drones overnight and into Monday afternoon. Four drones were shot down over the Moscow region, of which two were heading toward the capital, the ministry said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the Geneva talks were “probably the most productive and meaningful meeting we’ve had so far in this entire process since we became involved.”
Rubio told reporters that the presidents of both countries would have to approve any framework, but said he was “comfortable” they would.
“We’re making some changes and adjustments in hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to an outcome that both Ukraine and the United States can be comfortable with,” Rubio said.
Rubio later Sunday said that all parties had made “great strides” on a potential peace settlement with Russia. He also said that the deadline for the parties to reach an agreement is “as soon as possible” and that the process could extend past a Thanksgiving deadline set by Trump.
“It evolved. This is a work — this is a living, breathing document every day with input, it changes,” he said of the proposal.
Trump told reporters on Saturday that there is room for further negotiation. Asked by reporters whether the 28-point plan was his last offer, Trump replied, “No.” He added, “One way or another we’ll get it ended.”
But on Sunday, the president criticized Ukraine and its European backers, saying Ukrainian “‘leadership’ has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts” and noting that “Europe continues to buy oil from Russia.”
Asked later on Sunday whether the president still considered the Ukrainians “ungrateful,” Rubio said he believed Trump was now “quite pleased” with progress at the negotiating table.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said in a post to social media on Sunday that his delegation in Geneva “held a series of meetings — with the American side and with our European partners as well.”
“The delegation has just reported on the results of their discussions, and these were substantive conversations. A lot is changing — we are working very carefully on the steps needed to end the war,” Zelenskyy added.
“It is important that there is dialogue with the American representatives and there are signals President Trump’s team is hearing us,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Speaking at a forum in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, the president said Kyiv will “continue working with partners, especially the United States, and look for compromises that strengthen, but not weaken us. And we will continue explaining how dangerous it is to pretend that aggression is something one can simply overlook and move on.”
In talks with the U.S. so far, Zelenskyy added, “we’ve managed to keep extremely sensitive points on the table, including the full release of all Ukrainian prisoners of war under the all-for-all formula and civilians, and the complete return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. These are important steps, but to achieve real peace, more, more is needed.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia had “not received anything official yet” regarding the outcomes of the Geneva talks.
“We are, of course, closely monitoring media reports, which have been abundant over the past few days, including from Geneva,” Peskov said.
“We have not seen any plan yet,” Peskov continued. “We have read the statement following the discussions in Geneva. Some adjustments have been made to the text we saw earlier. We will wait. Apparently, the dialogue is continuing there, and some contacts will continue. So far, I repeat, we have not received anything officially.”
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting of his Security Council that the Kremlin had received the new 28-point U.S. proposal. “I believe that it could also form the basis for a final peace settlement, but this text has not been discussed with us in detail,” Putin said.
“I believe the reason is the same: the U.S. administration has not yet managed to secure the agreement of the Ukrainian side, as Ukraine is opposed to it,” Putin added. “Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies are still under the illusion that they can inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.”
ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Andriy Yermak, his chief of staff, has resigned after anti-corruption searches on his home and office on Friday morning.
Zelenskyy announced the resignation in an address he posted online Friday.
The head of Zelenskyy’s presidential office, Yermak is the president’s powerful right-hand man and had been leading the negotiations with the United States to end the war with Russia.
Yermak’s fall strips Zelenskyy of his closest adviser and chief negotiator at a moment when he has been under intense pressure to agree to a new peace plan with Russia.
Yermak had increasingly faced suspicion he could be implicated in a sprawling high-level corruption scandal in Ukraine’s energy sector that has rocked the country’s government, already taking in a former business partner of Zelenskyy’s and prompting the resignations of the justice and energy ministers.
Zelenskyy had resisted calls for Yermak’s resignation, but after the highly publicized raids on Yermak’s addresses Friday morning, he appeared to have concluded the suspicions against his chief of staff were causing too much damage. He did not directly acknowledge the raids or accusations during his address, saying he had made the decision to remove Yermak because he wanted to “avoid rumors and speculation” that could harm internal unity at a critical time.
““For internal strength to exist, there must be no reasons to be distracted by anything other than defending Ukraine. I want there to be no questions whatsoever about Ukraine,” Zelenskky said in the video statement.
He said he would hold consultations on Saturday to choose Yermak’s replacement.
Investigators from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) on Friday morning raided Yermak’s office and home as part of their investigation into the corruption scandal that has been dubbed “Mindich-gate” in Ukraine, a reference to Zelenskyy’s former business partner Timur Mindich who is implicated.
Prosecutors allege senior officials and Mindich arranged a kickback scheme that funneled tens of millions of dollars from contractors building defenses to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Investigators have not formally announced any allegations against Yermak or charged him. But he has faced mounting suspicion with critics alleging Yermak must have known about the corruption or bore responsibility for it. Some members of Parliament and anti-corruption campaigners also alleged that he was featured in recording made as part of the investigation under the name “Ali Baba.”
Yermak was also accused by opponents of being behind a failed attempt over the summer by Zelenskyy’s administration to strip independence from the same anti-corruption bodies now investigating him, which triggered mass protests.
There is no evidence Zelenskyy himself knew about the alleged corruption scheme or benefited from it. But as the scandal moved to the heart of his administration, he faced widespread calls to act or be seen as complicit, with worries he could face protests again if Yermak remained in post.
On Friday before his resignation Yermak posted he was “fully assisting” investigators.
Often referred to as Zelenskyy’s “grey cardinal,” Yermak has long-faced accusations of creeping authoritarianism and over-centralizing power, while allegations of corruption have lingered.
He has played a central role in Ukraine’s negotiations, including leading the delegation to Geneva last weekend for the talks with the U.S. on the Trump administration’s new peace plan. In an interview on Thursday with Time Magazine, Yermak ruled out ceding any territory to Russia.
Zelenskyy on Friday thanked Yermak for his role in leading the negotiations to end the war, saying “it has always been a patriotic position” and that he had represented Ukraine’s position “exactly as it should be.”
New peace talks are expected to be held perhaps as early as this weekend and Zelenskyy said they would now be headed by the head of Ukraine’s General Staff, as well as its National Security Council and foreign ministry representatives.
