Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Thursday that Russia’s heavy bombardment of Kyiv showed Moscow was “banking on escalation rather than negotiation”. At least 16 people, including two children, were killed in the capital, emergency services reported. Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared Friday a day of mourning.
The attacks came after President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the war was “coming to an end”. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy countered: “These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end.” Merz also rejected Putin’s suggestion that former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder could mediate, stating: “We Europeans decide for ourselves who speaks for us.”
In Latvia, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa resigned after her government collapsed over Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory. Ukraine says the drones, intended for Russian targets, are driven over the border by Russian electronic warfare. Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog warned of “intensified” military activities near several Ukrainian nuclear sites, with more than 160 drones recorded flying nearby.
Ukrainian drone attacks killed one person and injured three in Russia’s Belgorod border region. In a separate development, Ukraine’s anti-corruption court ordered the arrest of Andriy Yermak, a close Zelenskyy ally, on money-laundering charges, setting bail at 140 million hryvnias (£2.9m).
