At least 10 people were killed and 22 wounded when Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv early on Saturday, according to Reuters. The state emergency service reported fires and destruction in five districts of the capital, and more than a dozen explosions reverberated through the city. Residents were warned to stay in shelters.
Deadly strikes hit two districts
In Kyiv’s Darnytsky district, the attacks damaged multiple buildings and vehicles, with authorities reporting seven people killed and 14 wounded in the area.
In Solomiansky district, strikes damaged a five-storey residential building, killing two people and wounding eight.
"Everything was smashed, the windows, everything," 75-year-old resident Kateryna Kravchenko told AFP of her apartment. "I can barely stand. I don’t know how I’m going to get through all this."
The emergency service said on Saturday morning that 105 people in Kyiv had been rescued from impacted areas.
Trump retreats on Patriot licence
Donald Trump distanced himself from a pledge to let Ukraine manufacture its own Patriot air defence interceptors, which Kyiv needs to shoot down Russian missiles. Speaking at a cabinet meeting at Camp David, Trump told reporters: "We have not agreed to that. We’re talking about it, but it’s a hard thing to give away that kind of technology."
"People that you give that technology [to], they can some day turn on you. You know that is possible," he added. Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Trump had agreed to license the production of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, but Trump now says no such agreement exists.
Zelenskyy seeks Starlink help for strikes in Russia
Zelenskyy urged Trump and other US officials to help Ukraine gain permission from Elon Musk to use satellite internet service Starlink for guiding strikes inside Russia, according to one person familiar with the matter. He made the request directly to Trump during an Oval Office meeting this week and reportedly raised it with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Trump did not commit to the request.
Musk allows Starlink use within Ukraine, including Russian-occupied areas, but restricts it inside Russia.
Protests demand Fedorov reinstatement
Several thousand Ukrainians rallied in central Kyiv on Friday, angry about Zelenskyy’s decision to oust defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Fedorov is widely credited with driving military innovation during Ukraine’s war with Russia, but he was dismissed in a surprise government reshuffle in mid-July after taking charge of the wartime ministry in January.
Demonstrators have been gathering next to the presidential office, pushing for Fedorov to be reinstated; he has refused to accept another government post.
Grain and retail warnings
Russia’s main grain lobby group warned on Friday that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian ships and ports could shut down grain exports via the Black Sea, pushing up prices and causing hunger in Africa and the Middle East. The Union of Grain Exporters and Producers told Reuters that the disruption to shipping "poses a direct threat to global food security."
Separately, Tatyana Kim, founder and CEO of Russian online retailer Wildberries, complained on Friday that Ukrainian drone attacks on the company amount to "acts of terrorism" against civilians. Ukraine has struck more than a dozen Wildberries sites since 18 July in a bid to disrupt the operations of the retailer, which is a vendor to the Russian war effort and a linchpin of Russia’s consumer economy.
