Huge fire at Russian oil refinery after Ukrainian drone strikes: Live

Key Points

• Kyiv marks day of mourning after 21 killed in brutal Russian strikes
• Putin 'betting on escalation, not negotiations', German chancellor Merz says after deadly assault
• Defence secretary condemns Putin's 'shocking' attack on Kyiv
• Finland shuts air traffic after drone activity in Helsinki
• Russia says it has downed 355 Ukrainian drones overnight

Trump suggests deadly Russian strike on Kyiv could set back peace efforts

President Donald Trump ​on Friday suggested a Russian missile strike on a Kyiv apartment building that killed 24 people, including three children, could set back efforts to ⁠find a peaceful settlement to Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back from China, Trump said he had discussed the conflict with President Xi Jinping and ⁠that both leaders had agreed that they wanted the fighting ​to ⁠end.

"It's one that we'd ‌like to see settled. Until last night, it was looking good, but they (the Ukrainians) took a big hit last ‌night. So it's gonna happen (the end ‌of the war). But it's a shame," Trump said, in a reference to the Russian attack.

Sam Kiley: Putin let his desperation show with unexpected claim his war with Ukraine is ending

Russia’s leader is showing increasing signs of weakness, while Ukraine is growing in confidence as the war turns Kyiv’s way, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley

Putin let his desperation show with unexpected claim his war with Ukraine is ending

Pentagon ‘blindsided’ as Hegseth scraps deployment of 4,000 US troops to Poland

Pentagon staff were blindsided by Pete Hegseth’s sudden U-turn on sending troops to Poland this week, in the latest humiliation for European allies.

The decision would affect the temporary redeployment of some 4,000 U.S.-based troops, just two weeks after the defense department said it was pulling 5,000 troops from Germany amid a widening rift over the Iran war between president Donald Trump and Europe.

A US official told POLITICO they “had no idea it was coming”, and said they had spent the last 24 hours speaking with Europe to try to make sense of the decision and whether more surprises could follow.

Read our full story below.

Pentagon ‘blindsided’ as Hegseth scraps deployment of 4,000 US troops to Poland

Watch: Rescuers search for survivors after deadly Russian strike in Kyiv

Russia strikes grain terminal at Ukrainian port, ministry says

A Russian attack struck ⁠a grain terminal at a ⁠Ukrainian ​port, ⁠injuring seven ⁠people, Ukraine's development ​ministry ⁠said.

A ‌grain warehouse with cargo, ‌trucks and ‌handling equipment were ⁠damaged, the ministry said in a post on ‌X ​without specifying ‌which ⁠port was ⁠attacked.

Russia and Ukraine swap 205 prisoners of war each

Russia and Ukraine swapped 205 prisoners of war each on Friday, part of an agreement linked to a three-day ceasefire earlier this month brokered by U.S. President ⁠Donald Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was the first step in a bigger prisoner of war swap, after Kyiv and Moscow had agreed to swap 1,000 POWs each under the terms of the agreement.

"205 Ukrainians are home. Most of them had been in Russian captivity since 2022," Zelensky said on the Telegram ⁠app, posting pictures of smiling servicemen, many wrapped ​in Ukrainian ⁠flags.

Germany says Ukrainian national arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia

German prosecutors said on Friday ⁠a German judge had enforced ⁠an ​arrest ⁠warrant against a ⁠Ukrainian national ​suspected of ⁠spying ‌for Russia.

The defendant, identified ‌only as ‌Sergey N., had ⁠been detained in Spain at the end of March and ‌extradited ​to ‌Germany on ⁠Thursday, the ⁠prosecutors added.

Watch: Moment apartment building in Russia explodes after strike

Watch: Rescuers search for survivors after deadly Russian strike in Kyiv's Darnytskyi

Russia says prison population falls as convicts sent to fight Putin's war in Ukraine

Russia is witnessing a decrease in its population inside prison, with a drop of more than 180,000 people, in the past five years, the country’s prison chief said.

"If at the end of 2021 there were 465,000 (prisoners), then now there are 282,000," said Arkady Gostev, the head of Russia's penitentiary service.

Around 85,000 of the current prison population is held in pre-trial detention, he told TASS state news agency.

Gostev said the major decline in the prison population was partly driven by the army's recruitment drive, but also due to more suspended sentences and other forms of punishment handed out.

Moscow has regularly relied on recruiting its prisoners in exchange for buying out their sentences and sent them on the Ukraine frontline, but experts flagged that their lack of military and battlefield knowledge made them vulnerable to killings.

Zelensky says 24 killed and 48 injured in 'savage strike' as rescuers complete operations

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said at least 24 people were killed and 48 left wounded in the “savage” Russian strikes yesterday.

“The Russians practically demolished an entire section of the building with their missile. Twenty-four people were killed by this strike, including three children. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Everyone who was wounded or lost their home must receive the necessary assistance,” Zelensky said, adding that the rescue operations took more than a day.

“In total, 48 people were wounded in Kyiv as a result of yesterday’s attack, including two children,” he added.

“A Russia like this can never be normalised – a Russia that deliberately destroys lives and hopes to remain unpunished. Pressure is needed,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader added that the war-hit nation facing Moscow’s aggression is defending Europe and the rest of the world so that the strikes don’t spread further.

“I am grateful to everyone who did not remain silent and condemned this savage strike,” he said.

Russia says it has downed 355 Ukrainian drones overnight

Russian forces have intercepted and destroyed at least 355 Ukrainian drones in the country’s airspace, the defence ministry said this morning.

In the ⁠central ‌Russian city of Ryazan, ‌a drone ‌attack killed three people ⁠and injured 12, damaged high-rise apartment buildings and hit an industrial ‌enterprise, ​regional governor Pavel ‌Malkov ⁠said.

Russia typically reports only how many drones its air defences say they downed, not how many Ukraine launched, and rarely discloses the full extent of damage unless civilians are killed or civilian sites are hit.

Finland reopens airport after Helsinki drone threat ends

Finland has said the suspected drone activity in the early hours today in the skies above the country's capital region no longer posed a threat and that the situation was returning ⁠to normal as Helsinki's airport reopened.

Finland and the nearby Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have seen a string of recent incidents where Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have strayed into their ⁠airspace, but it was not immediately ​known ⁠if Friday's incident was similar.

The Finnish defence forces earlier scrambled fighter jets and other emergency services in response to the situation, but said in a statement that Finland was not facing a direct military threat.

"The danger is over. People can go to work and school safely," interior minister Mari Rantanen said in ‌a post on social media website X.

Traffic at Helsinki's airport also resumed after a three-hour suspension, according to a statement on its website. "Authorities are taking action. The Defence Forces have enhanced ⁠their own surveillance and response capabilities. I urge everyone to follow the authorities' bulletins," prime minister Petteri Orpo said in a statement on X.

US scraps deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland

The Pentagon has canceled plans to temporarily deploy 4,000 US-based troops to Poland, two US officials said as the surprise decision renews questions about president Donald Trump's expected troop cuts in Europe.

A Pentagon spokesperson declined comment, a lawmaker said the decision had not yet been notified to Congress, and no formal announcement has been made.

The decision, first reported by Army Times, came just two weeks after the Pentagon announced it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Nato ally Germany, in part due to a widening rift over the Iran war between president Donald Trump and Europe.

One US official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, suggested the Poland decision was part of a near-term solution to ultimately allow for the previously announced drawdown in Germany, which hosts 35,000 US forces.

That would suggest the troops that were meant to temporarily deploy to Poland might come from elsewhere.

Still, the US has been reviewing its troop presence in Europe and ​has long ⁠been expected to scale it back, following demands ‌from Trump that Nato take a larger role in the defence of Europe.

The Pentagon has not yet detailed how it envisions future troop laydowns across the continent.

Trump has also been angered that European ‌allies did not join the US war against Iran, and sparred with ‌German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who last month said Iranians were humiliating the US in negotiations.

Three killed in Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Ryazan

A Ukrainian drone attack killed three people in the central Russian city of Ryazan, damaged high-rise apartment buildings and hit an industrial enterprise, regional governor Pavel Malkov said in the early hours today.

"To ⁠our great regret, three people have been killed and 12 injured, ‌including ​children," Malkov ‌wrote ⁠on the ⁠Telegram messaging app.

North Korea criticises UK sanctions over Ukrainian children – report

North Korea condemned sanctions imposed by Britain over a summer camp that London says was part of Kremlin-run youth programmes and entities involved in the deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.

Britain imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian officials and organisations on Monday. The Songdowon International Children's Camp was also listed as part of the sanctions for its alleged involvement in Russia's forced deportation and reeducation of Ukrainian children.

Pyongyang's ⁠foreign ministry said in a statement ⁠carried by state media KCNA this morning ​that ⁠the sanctions on ‌the Songdowon camp were a malicious act that London ‌would pay a price ‌for.

It called them groundless and said they damaged ⁠the rights and interests of its children, who it said received the "most precious" treatment.

Russia claims it attacked Ukraine's military facilities but stays silent on 21 civilians killed

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces aimed at Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, including air bases and fuel and transport facilities, claiming it hit all its targets in the attacks yesterday.

Among the weapons deployed, it said, were Kinzhal missiles, which Moscow says can fly 10 times the speed of sound.

The attacks reported from Ukraine were mostly from neighbourhoods and civilian areas, in which a school, a veterinary clinic and several apartment buildings housing civilians were hit.

At least 21 people were killed and more than two dozen were reported injured in the attacks.

Russian drones also struck a vehicle carrying UN staff who were delivering aid to residents of Kherson in southern Ukraine, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.

The vehicle was marked and was attacked twice, in two different locations, but nobody was hurt, he said.

Defence secretary condemns Putin's 'shocking' attack on Kyiv

Defence secretary John Healey has called the attack on Ukraine yesterday “shocking” and said he had accelerated UK deliveries of air defences.

“Shocking Russian drone attacks on Ukraine over the last 24 hours. I’ve directed for UK deliveries of air defence and counter-drone systems to be accelerated as fast as possible,” he said in a post on X.

He added: “We stand with Ukraine in the face of Putin’s aggression. Our thoughts are with Ukrainian families.”

Kyiv marks day of mourning after 21 killed in brutal Russian strikes

The Ukrainian capital will be observing a day of mourning for the victims of the latest Russian attack that killed at least 21 people yesterday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Russia carried out its largest aerial attack over a two-day period since the start of its war in Ukraine, pounding the capital Kyiv and other cities with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia launched a total of 1,567 drones since the start of Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Kyiv was ⁠the main target of the overnight strikes, he added.

Ukraine's State Emergency Services said at least 21 people, including ​three children, ⁠were killed in the capital.

Emergency workers were seen moving carefully across piles of rubble and cutting through concrete at the site of a strike on a nine-storey residential building where an entire section had been destroyed.

“There were people there, children. What happened to them? You have to understand, an entire building collapsed," Alla Komisarova, 74, a pensioner, said on the site of the strike, holding back tears.

“I heard something flying, it's flying nearby... And then there was such a terrible sound, and our house, which is opposite (to the one hit) jumped and staggered,” she said.

Putin 'betting on escalation, not negotiations', German chancellor Merz says after deadly assault

German chancellor Friedrich Merz has condemned Russia's aerial bombardment of Ukraine, saying it contradicts Vladimir Putin's claims to want an end to the war.

"The largest Russian attacks on Ukraine in recent times show that Moscow is betting on escalation of the conflict, not negotiations," he said on X yesterday.

"We continue to stand with Ukraine. Kyiv and its partners are ready for talks on a just peace. Russia, however, continues to wage war," Merz said.

Russia and Ukraine exchange more than 400 prisoners of war

Ukraine and Russia have swapped 205 prisoners of war each today, Russia's RIA state news agency reported.

Earlier this month, Moscow ​said it had ‌agreed to ‌carry out a prisoner ⁠exchange with Kyiv as part of a three-day ceasefire brokered ‌by US​president ‌Donald ⁠Trump.

Latvia’s prime minister resigns over Ukraine-Russia drone incidents

Latvia's centre-right prime minister Evika Silina said she ⁠would resign, triggering the collapse of her coalition government just months before an election ⁠is due ​in ⁠October.

"I am resigning, but I am not ⁠giving up," she said in ​a televised ⁠statement.

Latvian president ‌Edgars Rinkevics, who is tasked by the constitution to select ‌a leader of ‌the government, will meet all parliamentary parties on Friday.

Silina, of the ⁠centre-right New Unity party, was left without a ruling majority in the parliament on Wednesday after the left-wing Progressives party said it was withdrawing ‌its support.

The decision followed the ​firing over the ‌weekend of Progressives' defence minister Andris Spruds over ⁠the handling of incidents involving stray ‌Ukrainian ​drones flying into ‌Latvia from Russia.

Russia says prison population falls as convicts sent to fight Putin's war in Ukraine

Russia is witnessing a decrease in its population inside prison, with a drop of more than 180,000 people, in the past five years, the country’s prison chief said.

"If at the end of 2021 there were 465,000 (prisoners), then now there are 282,000," said Arkady Gostev, the head of Russia's penitentiary service.

Around 85,000 of the current prison population is held in pre-trial detention, he told TASS state news agency.

Gostev said the major decline in the prison population was partly driven by the army's recruitment drive, but also due to more suspended sentences and other forms of punishment handed out.

Moscow has regularly relied on recruiting its prisoners in exchange for buying out their sentences and sent them on the Ukraine frontline, but experts flagged that their lack of military and battlefield knowledge made them vulnerable to killings.

Zelensky says 24 killed and 48 injured in 'savage strike' as rescuers complete operations

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said at least 24 people were killed and 48 left wounded in the “savage” Russian strikes yesterday.

“The Russians practically demolished an entire section of the building with their missile. Twenty-four people were killed by this strike, including three children. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Everyone who was wounded or lost their home must receive the necessary assistance,” Zelensky said, adding that the rescue operations took more than a day.

“In total, 48 people were wounded in Kyiv as a result of yesterday’s attack, including two children,” he added.

“A Russia like this can never be normalised – a Russia that deliberately destroys lives and hopes to remain unpunished. Pressure is needed,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader added that the war-hit nation facing Moscow’s aggression is defending Europe and the rest of the world so that the strikes don’t spread further.

“I am grateful to everyone who did not remain silent and condemned this savage strike,” he said.

Finland reopens airport after Helsinki drone threat ends

Finland has said the suspected drone activity in the early hours today in the skies above the country's capital region no longer posed a threat and that the situation was returning ⁠to normal as Helsinki's airport reopened.

Finland and the nearby Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have seen a string of recent incidents where Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have strayed into their ⁠airspace, but it was not immediately ​known ⁠if Friday's incident was similar.

The Finnish defence forces earlier scrambled fighter jets and other emergency services in response to the situation, but said in a statement that Finland was not facing a direct military threat.

"The danger is over. People can go to work and school safely," interior minister Mari Rantanen said in ‌a post on social media website X.

Traffic at Helsinki's airport also resumed after a three-hour suspension, according to a statement on its website. "Authorities are taking action. The Defence Forces have enhanced ⁠their own surveillance and response capabilities. I urge everyone to follow the authorities' bulletins," prime minister Petteri Orpo said in a statement on X.

Russia says it has downed 355 Ukrainian drones overnight

Russian forces have intercepted and destroyed at least 355 Ukrainian drones in the country’s airspace, the defence ministry said this morning.

In the ⁠central ‌Russian city of Ryazan, ‌a drone ‌attack killed three people ⁠and injured 12, damaged high-rise apartment buildings and hit an industrial ‌enterprise, ​regional governor Pavel ‌Malkov ⁠said.

Russia typically reports only how many drones its air defences say they downed, not how many Ukraine launched, and rarely discloses the full extent of damage unless civilians are killed or civilian sites are hit.

US scraps deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland

The Pentagon has canceled plans to temporarily deploy 4,000 US-based troops to Poland, two US officials said as the surprise decision renews questions about president Donald Trump's expected troop cuts in Europe.

A Pentagon spokesperson declined comment, a lawmaker said the decision had not yet been notified to Congress, and no formal announcement has been made.

The decision, first reported by Army Times, came just two weeks after the Pentagon announced it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Nato ally Germany, in part due to a widening rift over the Iran war between president Donald Trump and Europe.

One US official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, suggested the Poland decision was part of a near-term solution to ultimately allow for the previously announced drawdown in Germany, which hosts 35,000 US forces.

That would suggest the troops that were meant to temporarily deploy to Poland might come from elsewhere.

Still, the US has been reviewing its troop presence in Europe and ​has long ⁠been expected to scale it back, following demands ‌from Trump that Nato take a larger role in the defence of Europe.

The Pentagon has not yet detailed how it envisions future troop laydowns across the continent.

Trump has also been angered that European ‌allies did not join the US war against Iran, and sparred with ‌German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who last month said Iranians were humiliating the US in negotiations.

Three killed in Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Ryazan

A Ukrainian drone attack killed three people in the central Russian city of Ryazan, damaged high-rise apartment buildings and hit an industrial enterprise, regional governor Pavel Malkov said in the early hours today.

"To ⁠our great regret, three people have been killed and 12 injured, ‌including ​children," Malkov ‌wrote ⁠on the ⁠Telegram messaging app.

North Korea criticises UK sanctions over Ukrainian children – report

North Korea condemned sanctions imposed by Britain over a summer camp that London says was part of Kremlin-run youth programmes and entities involved in the deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.

Britain imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian officials and organisations on Monday. The Songdowon International Children's Camp was also listed as part of the sanctions for its alleged involvement in Russia's forced deportation and reeducation of Ukrainian children.

Pyongyang's ⁠foreign ministry said in a statement ⁠carried by state media KCNA this morning ​that ⁠the sanctions on ‌the Songdowon camp were a malicious act that London ‌would pay a price ‌for.

It called them groundless and said they damaged ⁠the rights and interests of its children, who it said received the "most precious" treatment.

Russia claims it attacked Ukraine's military facilities but stays silent on 21 civilians killed

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces aimed at Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, including air bases and fuel and transport facilities, claiming it hit all its targets in the attacks yesterday.

Among the weapons deployed, it said, were Kinzhal missiles, which Moscow says can fly 10 times the speed of sound.

The attacks reported from Ukraine were mostly from neighbourhoods and civilian areas, in which a school, a veterinary clinic and several apartment buildings housing civilians were hit.

At least 21 people were killed and more than two dozen were reported injured in the attacks.

Russian drones also struck a vehicle carrying UN staff who were delivering aid to residents of Kherson in southern Ukraine, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.

The vehicle was marked and was attacked twice, in two different locations, but nobody was hurt, he said.

Finland shuts air traffic after drone activity in Helsinki

Finnish authorities warned of suspected ⁠drone ​activity in ⁠the country's capital region, ⁠and Helsinki ​airport said ⁠it ‌had temporarily suspended traffic this morning.

"Authorities are taking ‌action. The Defence ‌Forces have enhanced their own ⁠surveillance and response capabilities. I urge everyone to follow the authorities' bulletins," prime minister ‌Petteri Orpo ​said ‌in a ⁠statement on ⁠X.

Defence secretary condemns Putin's 'shocking' attack on Kyiv

Defence secretary John Healey has called the attack on Ukraine yesterday “shocking” and said he had accelerated UK deliveries of air defences.

“Shocking Russian drone attacks on Ukraine over the last 24 hours. I’ve directed for UK deliveries of air defence and counter-drone systems to be accelerated as fast as possible,” he said in a post on X.

He added: “We stand with Ukraine in the face of Putin’s aggression. Our thoughts are with Ukrainian families.”

Kyiv marks day of mourning after 21 killed in brutal Russian strikes

The Ukrainian capital will be observing a day of mourning for the victims of the latest Russian attack that killed at least 21 people yesterday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Russia carried out its largest aerial attack over a two-day period since the start of its war in Ukraine, pounding the capital Kyiv and other cities with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia launched a total of 1,567 drones since the start of Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Kyiv was ⁠the main target of the overnight strikes, he added.

Ukraine's State Emergency Services said at least 21 people, including ​three children, ⁠were killed in the capital.

Emergency workers were seen moving carefully across piles of rubble and cutting through concrete at the site of a strike on a nine-storey residential building where an entire section had been destroyed.

“There were people there, children. What happened to them? You have to understand, an entire building collapsed," Alla Komisarova, 74, a pensioner, said on the site of the strike, holding back tears.

“I heard something flying, it's flying nearby... And then there was such a terrible sound, and our house, which is opposite (to the one hit) jumped and staggered,” she said.

Putin 'betting on escalation, not negotiations', German chancellor Merz says after deadly assault

German chancellor Friedrich Merz has condemned Russia's aerial bombardment of Ukraine, saying it contradicts Vladimir Putin's claims to want an end to the war.

"The largest Russian attacks on Ukraine in recent times show that Moscow is betting on escalation of the conflict, not negotiations," he said on X yesterday.

"We continue to stand with Ukraine. Kyiv and its partners are ready for talks on a just peace. Russia, however, continues to wage war," Merz said.

Briefing: What we know on the 1,541st day of Ukraine war

• Kyiv is observing a day of mourning today after a major Russian attack left 21 dead and dozens wounded
• Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia launched 1,567 drones since the start of Wednesday, just days after president Vladimir Putin said the war was "coming to an end”
• At least 180 facilities were damaged by the attacks in Ukraine, including more than 50 residential buildings
• A UN Office for the Coordination of ‌Humanitarian Affairs vehicle came under fire from Russian drones during a humanitarian mission in the southern city of ​Kherson, says Zelensky
• German chancellor Friedrich Merz says Russia’s heavy bombardment showed that Putin was “banking on escalation rather than negotiation”