Ukraine war briefing: Russia preparing ‘massive new strike’, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian president calls on country to ‘protect your lives’; Nato fury as drone hits Romanian apartment block. What we know on day 1,557Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is preparing a “massive new strike” on the country, calling on the population to take action to “protect your lives”. Kyiv was hit particularly hard last weekend by a huge Russian bombardment attack – one of the largest since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Moscow has warned foreign diplomats to leave Kyiv, threatening to escalate attacks as it seeks revenge for a Ukrainian strike on a dormitory and high school in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, which Moscow says left 21 people dead.“We have intelligence information about Russia preparing a new massive strike,” Zelenskyy said in a social media message. “Please pay attention to air alerts, protect your lives. Our services are working efficiently and are prepared; the Air Force and other defenders of our skies will be on duty 24/7, as always.”Zelenskyy has reiterated his call to allies to allow and finance the supply of Patriot missiles, which can intercept Russian ballistic missiles. He wrote to Donald Trump and the US Congress earlier this week asking for Patriot systems to respond to the intensifying Russian air attacks.A Ukrainian drone attack killed two people in a car in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, officials said early on Saturday. The region’s operational headquarters, in a post on Telegram, added that two people were injured. The region has been a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks in war between the two countries.A Russian drone that smashed into a Romanian apartment building set off furious condemnation of Russia by Romania and its Nato allies. Two people were injured in the first drone hit on a building outside Ukraine since the start of the war. Romania called the incident a “serious and irresponsible escalation” by its neighbour. Vladimir Putin attempted to suggest, without evidence, that the drone might have been a stray Ukrainian weapon.The drone hit the roof of an apartment building in the centre of the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine, sparking a fire and sending a 14-year-old boy and 53-year-old woman to hospital with injuries, officials said.The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, of its territory after the incident. “Russia’s reckless behaviour is a danger to us all,” Rutte wrote on social media after a call with the Romanian president, Nicuşor Dan.Romania summoned the Russian ambassador, and Dan convened a national defence council meeting on “the most serious incident to have affected our national territory” since Russia invaded Ukraine.The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said Russia’s “war of aggression” had “crossed yet another line”, pledging to increase deterrence on the EU’s eastern border. German chancellor Friedrich Merz said the incident showed Russia’s “willingness to escalate”, and Britain’s Keir Starmer condemned the “serious violation of Nato airspace”.Putin meanwhile said Russia has all the means necessary to destroy anyone who attempts to attack the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Putin was responding to a question about remarks made by Lithuania’s foreign minister Kestutis Budrys this month who said Nato had to show Moscow it was capable of penetrating Kaliningrad. Separately, responding to a question about Russian intelligence reports alleging that Ukraine had sent drone operators to Latvia, Putin reiterated that any location that posed a threat against Russia was considered a legitimate target.The UN has for sexual violence in conflict, citing abuse by security forces, including the rape of male detainees.