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Russia has carried out massive strikes across Ukraine, using drones and ballistic missiles, a day after the US stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv that had previously given advance warnings of attacks.
The strikes came early on Friday as a Ukrainian delegation prepared to meet with US counterparts in Saudi Arabia for talks about a possible end to the war.
The Kremlin sought to destroy Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. It targeted facilities in several regions, including Odesa and Poltava, using nearly 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 attack drones, the Ukrainian president said.
“All of this was directed against infrastructure that ensures normal life,” he wrote on social media. “Currently, repair and restoration work is ongoing.” He said several people were injured when a missile hit a private building in Kharkiv.
Zelenskyy is due to travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “After that, my team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with our American partners,” he wrote. “Ukraine is most interested in peace. As we told POTUS [the president of the US], Ukraine is working and will continue to work constructively for a swift and reliable peace.”
The Trump administration has piled further pressure on Ukraine amid apparent US attempts to replace Zelenskyy.
“I think Ukraine wants to make a deal because they don’t have a choice,” Trump said on Thursday. “I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain different way – a different way that only I know – they have no choice either.”
Over a matter of days, the White House has suspended weapons deliveries and the supply of intelligence to Kyiv. There were reports on Friday that the US aerospace company Maxar Technologies had disabled Ukraine’s access to its satellite images after a request from the Trump administration.
In the face of escalating US hostility, Zelenskyy has set out a tentative ceasefire plan. On Friday, he suggested a ban on the use of “missiles, long-range drones and aerial bombs”, as well as a suspension of military operations in the Black Sea.
“Ukraine is ready to pursue the path to peace, and it is Ukraine that strives for peace from the very first second of this war. The task is to force Russia to stop the war,” he posted on X.
Since US and Russian negotiators met in Saudi Arabia, the Kremlin has dramatically stepped up its air war against Ukraine. Its advance on land in the east of the country has largely stopped, with Ukraine’s armed forces carrying out local counter-offensives in some areas.
An overnight strike in Kharkiv injured eight people and damaged nine apartment buildings, officials said. An adult and a child were also injured in Poltava oblast when a missile hit two housing blocks, the energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, said.
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Despite the US weapons cut-off, Ukraine is still able to shoot down some – but not all – enemy missiles. On Friday, Zelenskyy said French-supplied Mirage 2000 aircraft were used for the first time together with F-16 fighter jets to protect Ukrainian skies.
He said: “The Mirages successfully intercepted Russian cruise missiles. Thank you! I also want to recognise the performance of our anti-aircraft missile forces, army aviation, all our electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups.”
The Kremlin, meanwhile, said Russia may have to respond to what it said were EU plans to boost its military capability and to cast Russia as its enemy. The comments follow Thursday’s meeting in Brussels, in which EU leaders agreed a plan for a massive rise in defence spending.
“We see that the European Union is now actively discussing the militarisation of the EU and the development of the defence segment. This is a process that we are watching closely, because the EU is positioning Russia as its main adversary,” the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
