Live blog: Russia launches largest drone attack on Ukraine, targeting Kiev

Saturday, November 25, 2023

0626 GMT — Ukraine's capital city has taken the brunt of what the country's air force described as Russia's largest drone attack of the war.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on the Telegram app, said the attack had injured five people, including an 11-year-old girl, and damaged buildings in districts all across Kiev.

Fragments from a downed drone had started a fire in a children's nursery, he said.

The attack, which used Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drones, began hitting different districts of Kiev in the early hours of Saturday, with more waves coming as the sun rose.

Ukraine's energy ministry said nearly 200 buildings in the capital, including 77 residential ones, had been left without power due to the attack.

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1504 GMT –– Swiss president pledges more support for Ukraine in Kiev visit

Swiss President Alain Berset pledged his long-term support for Ukraine in a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kiev, where he also attended an international summit on food security, the Swiss government said.

Ukraine is hosting an international summit to promote its efforts to export grain despite an ongoing Russian blockade of the Black Sea, its main export route.

"In talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Berset stressed that Switzerland stands in solidarity with Ukraine for the long haul, even in times of multiple concurrent crises," the Swiss government said.

Zelenskyy said on X that mine clearing, peace proposals and the use of profits from frozen Russian assets were also discussed.

Switzerland has previously said it has frozen some 7.5 billion Swiss francs ($8.5 billion) in Russian assets.

1256 GMT –– Ukraine's president seeks '3 wins' from West

Following a meeting with his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics, Zelenskyy said at a news conference that his administration needs to persuade the US and EU to approve new tranches of financial aid, as well as ensure Ukraine's membership in the EU.

"We need three wins. The first victory is with (the US) Congress… Second, we need the support of the European Union so that the 50 billion (aid) package does not go anywhere.


Not everyone in the European Union is ready to support this package today… The third one is (that) we need to avoid the threat of a veto by one or more EU countries on the decision to start negotiations with Ukraine on joining the community," he said.

1241 GMT –– Ukraine's military chiefs agree on demobilization of conscripts

Ukraine's military chiefs agreed to demobilize all conscripts, summoned to the military service before February 2022, head of National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said.

The proposal was moved forward by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a meeting with military commanders and got their approval, Danilov said in an interview with local Ukrainian Radio.

"In the near future, these people will be demobilized. This process will take place, and we know how many of them (will be demobilized)," he said.

Those who want to continue their military service can sign a contract with the armed forces, Danilov said.

0918 GMT –– Five wounded in Kiev by largest drone attack yet on Ukraine - officials

Ukraine's capital suffered what officials said was Russia's largest drone attack of the war on Saturday, leaving five people wounded as the rumble of air defences and explosions woke residents at sunrise.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on the Telegram app, said the attack had injured five people, including an 11-year-old girl, and damaged buildings in districts all across the city.

Fragments from a downed drone had started a fire in a children's nursery, he said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed out that the attack had come in the early hours of the day when Ukrainians commemorate their worst national tragedy - the 1932-33 Holodomor famine in which several million people starved to death.

Ukraine's leadership has previously drawn parallels between Holodomor and Russia's current invasion.

Ukraine and over 30 other countries recognise Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet Union, which ruled Ukraine at the time and sought to crush its desire for independence.

Moscow denies the deaths were caused by a deliberate genocidal policy and says that Russians and other ethnic groups also suffered because of famine.

0714 GMT — Zelenskyy says Russia launched more than 70 drones at Ukraine overnight

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russia launched over 70 Shahed drones at Ukraine overnight, most of which were shot down.

Zelenskyy on Saturday said the attack, which came in the early hours of the day that Ukraine commemorated the 1932-33 Holodomor famine that killed several million Ukrainians, was an act of 'wilful terror'.

2312 GMT — Ukraine spy master says 'destroyed myth of Russian invincibility'

A Ukrainian sea drone attack on Russia's Crimean bridge in July had "overturned" naval operations and forced Moscow to resort to ferries to move weaponry, the head of Ukraine's main intelligence agency said in a video broadcast.

Vasyl Maliuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU], said the second of two major attacks in August had seriously disrupted operations on the 19-km bridge, Europe's longest, and dented the notion of Russian invincibility.

"We have practically overturned the philosophy of naval operations," Maliuk said in the first of a series of televised documentaries entitled "SBU, the Special Operations of Victory."

"We have destroyed the myth of Russian invincibility. The country is a fake. The bridge is doomed. Plenty of surprises lie ahead, and not just the Crimean Bridge."

2200 GMT — Russia vows retaliation over Moldova's decision to join EU sanctions

Russia views Moldova's decision to join EU sanctions against it as a hostile step aimed at destroying ties with Moscow and will retaliate, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

The Russian denunciation was issued in response to a vote in Moldova's parliament agreeing to abide by the punitive measures as part of measures to alter its legislation as required for its bid to join the European Union.

"We regard this as yet another hostile step by the Moldovan leadership, which is fully integrated into the anti-Russian campaign of the 'collective West'," the ministry said in a statement.

"Its aim is the complete destruction of Russian-Moldovan relations, which, through the fault of official Chisinau, are already in a very deplorable state."

Moscow would retaliate, the ministry said.

For our live updates from Friday (November 24), click here.