Day 434 since the beginning of the war: Ukrainian President Zelenskyj visits the Netherlands. A refinery catches fire in Russia after a drone attack. All information in the blog.
The most important things at a glance
Air Force: Ukraine shot down its own drone
10:21 p.m.: The Ukrainian air defense shot down a drone of its own armed forces over the capital Kiev on Thursday. The military had lost control of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the Air Force announced in the evening. In order to avoid possible “undesirable consequences”, it was decided to shoot down the Turkish-type Bayraktar drone. “It’s a shame, but that’s the way technology works and such cases do happen,” the statement said.
In Kiev and the surrounding area, an air alarm was triggered in the evening because of the drone. Video footage posted on social networks showed the drone being shot down over central Kiev. The air alert was lifted after a short time.
Kiev and the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa were only attacked by Russian drones on Thursday night.
Ex-space chief: Russia should use nuclear weapons
9:03 p.m.: In response to Ukraine’s alleged drone attack on the Kremlin, former head of the Russian Space Agency Dmitry Rogozin has spoken out in favor of the use of tactical nuclear weapons. From his point of view, there is no other way to disrupt the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Rogozin said in a video via Telegram.
According to the Russian nuclear doctrine, “one has the right to use tactical nuclear weapons, because that’s what they are for,” he said, describing them as “great compensation for those moments when there is a clear discrepancy in favor of the enemy.” Rogozin was head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos from 2018 to 2022. He is currently said to be in Ukraine as a military adviser to Russia.
Air alert over Kyiv
8:02 p.m.: In the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and the surrounding area, an air alert was briefly triggered on Thursday evening because of an unmanned aerial vehicle. Explosions and gunfire could be heard in the city center, residents said. The military authorities asked people to keep calm and go to shelters.
The air defense is in action, it said. Video footage posted on social networks showed a drone being shot down over central Kiev. The air alert was lifted after a short time.
“The enemy drone was shot down,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported “explosions and fires” in the Solomjanskyj district and warned people of possible drone debris.
Makeiev counters Melnyk’s criticism: “Every door is open to me”
US calls Russian drone attack allegations ‘ridiculous’
6:58 p.m.: The US government has dismissed accusations that Russia was behind the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin as “ridiculous”. “The United States had nothing to do with it. We don’t even know exactly what happened here,” National Security Council communications director John Kirby said on US television on Thursday. Referring to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Kirby said: “Mr. Peskov is lying.”
Peskov had previously said without providing any evidence: “We know that the decision on such acts and acts of terrorism is not made in Kiev, but in Washington. And Kiev carries out what they are told.” Kirby stressed that the US would not encourage or allow Ukraine to attack outside Ukrainian borders. “We do not advocate attacks on individual heads of state, we do not encourage them, we do not support them,” he added.
Despite rocket fire: train in Ukraine arrives on time
6.45 p.m.: A train in Cherson is about to leave when the Russian army shells the station. This does not affect the schedule. Here you can read more about it.
This is how Ukrainian farmers are defending themselves against Russia’s perfidious tactics
6:12 p.m.: According to estimates, around 30 percent of Ukraine is mined – and official clearance services are overwhelmed. But a farmer has an ingenious solution to this problem, as you can see in the video here.
