LIVE: Russia and Ukraine trade strikes as peace hopes fade

‘If Ukraine burns, so will Moscow,’ Zelensky says after refinery fire

The Ukrainian president said on Thursday that Kyiv will respond to all Russian attacks and that the morning strike on Moscow’s refinery — in response to Russia's attack on a UNESCO-protected cathedral earlier this week was “entirely justified,” News.Az reports, citing Euronews.

“If Putin does not want to end this war and wishes to continue it — we will not sit quietly, we will respond,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his comments on Ukraine’s strike on Moscow's oil refinery on Thursday morning.

“If Ukraine burns, so will Moscow," Zelenskyy said.

“We were at the Lavra, and I said we will prepare a response and you will see it. I think you are seeing it now,” Zelensky said, insisting that all Kyiv wants is to end Russia’s war.

“We do not want this war and never have. Everyone knows this, and our partners know it too," he explained.

Zelensky also stressed that Moscow air defence — the strongest and most elaborate in the country — could not intercept Ukraine's drone attack, which he called “entirely justified”.

“As you can all see, regardless of the three rings of air defence that Moscow has in place, we have said that we will target them," he said.

** 15:28

Russia, Ukraine exchange remains of over 550 fallen soldiers

Russia and Ukraine exchanged the bodies of more than 550 soldiers killed fighting in the war, a senior Russian lawmaker said Thursday, News.Az reports, citing The Moscow Times.

Shamsail Saraliyev, a State Duma lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party and member of a parliamentary group dedicated to the conflict, said Ukraine received 522 bodies of its soldiers while 33 were returned to Russia.

Ukraine later confirmed the exchange.

Last month, authorities in Kyiv said Russia had returned 528 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers, while Russian media reported that Ukraine had returned 41 fallen Russian servicemen.

That prior exchange was conducted alongside a POW swap mediated by the United Arab Emirates. Later in June, the two sides carried out an additional prisoner exchange, also with UAE involvement.

Source: The Moscow Times

** 14:10

16 people injured in Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow Region

As many as 16 people were injured in Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow Region in the last 24 hours, the region governor announced.

** 13:18

Ukraine, Germany to jointly develop anti-ballistic missile system

Ukrainian and German defense firms signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop the Freyja ground-based air defense anti-ballistic system, the Ukrinform news agency reported on Wednesday, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.

The document, signed by Ukraine's Fire Point and Germany's Hensoldt companies at the Eurosatory defense exhibition in Paris, outlines a plan to jointly integrate combat-proven, existing components into the air defense system capable of detecting and intercepting ballistic missiles, the report said.

Fire Point, as the project's prime contractor, will take overall charge of the system's concept, manufacture, test and supply the FP-7 missiles, launchers and control systems.

Hensoldt will be responsible for producing, testing and supplying radar systems for Freyja, as well as supporting their integration into the overall system.

** 11:59

Ukraine shoots down over 230 drones during overnight Russian attack

On the night of June 18, Russia attacked Ukraine with seven ballistic missiles and 239 attack drones. Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down most of the incoming targets, although some strikes hit their targets, according to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, News.Az reports, citing RBC-Ukraine.

Russian forces attacked with seven Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles launched from the Voronezh, Bryansk, and Kursk regions, as well as 239 Shaheds, Gerbera, Italmas attack drones, and Parodiya decoy drones launched from the directions of Kursk, Oryol, Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, Hvardiiske in Crimea, and the Donetsk region.

The air attack was repelled by aircraft, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, and unmanned systems units, as well as mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

According to preliminary data, as of 8:00 a.m., air defenses had shot down or suppressed 216 targets, including four Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles and 212 enemy Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas drones and drones of other types in the north, south, and east of the country.

Hits by two ballistic missiles and 26 attack drones were recorded at nine locations, while debris fell at seven locations. Information regarding one more ballistic missile is being clarified.

**10:42

Moscow hit by 'large-scale' Ukrainian drone attack

Moscow was fending off a "large-scale" drone attack from Ukraine, with several drones reaching an oil refinery, the city's mayor Sergey Sobyanin said early Thursday, News.Az reports, citing ANews.

Kyiv has in the past months stepped up its strikes on Russia, regularly hitting oil-processing facilities and its export hubs in a bid to sap the vital fossil fuel revenues funding Moscow's war effort that is now in its fifth year.

"Air defence forces are continuing to repel a large-scale attack. Several drones managed to reach the MNPZ," a major refinery in the Russian capital, Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.

The mayor said "measures are being taken to deal with the consequences", without specifying if the refinery was damaged.

Sobyanin said just before 7:00 am (0400 GMT) that Russian air defences have destroyed 43 drones during the night.

** 09:58

Ukrainian drones struck Moscow’s oil refinery for the second time this week, while Russia launched missile attacks on Kyiv, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued efforts to secure support from the United States and Europe for a potential peace deal, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Moscow’s air defences shot down more than five dozen drones on Thursday, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who wrote on Telegram.

A Reuters witness reported seeing flames and thick plumes of smoke rising over the southeastern Kapotnya district, where the Moscow oil refinery is located.

“Air defence forces continue to repel a massive attack. Several drones managed to reach the Moscow oil refinery,” Sobyanin said, adding that a shopping centre also sustained minor damage.

The attack marks the second strike in just a few days, following a drone attack on Tuesday that halted operations at the refinery, according to sources. The repeated strikes have added to growing damage to Russian energy infrastructure and are deepening an ongoing fuel shortage in the country.

Russia, the world’s third-largest oil producer and a major exporter of crude oil and refined fuel, is expected to import fuel by sea this month as it attempts to manage gasoline shortages caused by sustained Ukrainian drone attacks on its refineries, industry sources said.

In the wider Moscow region, the regional governor said a high-rise residential building, an industrial facility, and several private homes were also damaged in the drone attack.

Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, the city’s busiest, temporarily suspended flights and evacuated passengers, some of whom took shelter in the parking areas, according to an airport statement. Operations were later resumed after restrictions were lifted.

At the same time, Kyiv came under renewed air attack as Russia launched ballistic missiles on the Ukrainian capital, according to city officials.

“The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic missiles. Stay in safe places until the air raid alert is over!” Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, wrote on Telegram early Thursday, without providing further details.

A Reuters witness reported hearing explosions in Kyiv, while authorities in the northeastern city of Sumy said one person was killed in a separate drone strike. Air raid alerts were issued across most of Ukraine.

Earlier in the week, a major Russian strike on Kyiv killed 10 people and damaged a 1,000-year-old monastery considered a symbol of Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural heritage, prompting condemnation from European leaders. Russia denied that the monastery was targeted.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev