Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow ramping up pressure on Ukrainian forces; major missile attack kills eight in Dnipropetrovsk (2024)

Russian air defence units intercepted 25 airborne targets early this morning over the southern Belgorod region, the region's governor said.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said the main target was the city of Belgorod, but there were no injuries.

Several private homes and other buildings were damaged and a small fire in a storage area was quickly extinguished.

Russia is ramping up pressure on exhausted Ukrainian forces as muddy fields dry out and allow tanks and armoured vehicles access to key positions.

Moscow has increasingly turned to using satellite-guided gliding bombs, which allow planes to strike from a safe distance, to hit Ukrainian troops.

Russian military bloggers argue a major ground offensive would be risky and unnecessary if Russian troops can successfully rely on smaller attacks across the front line to further drain Kyiv's military.

After claiming to have captured the Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka in February, Russian troops are pushing towards the hill town of Chasiv Yar, which would allow them to move towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk - key cities in the eastern Donetsk region that remain under Ukrainian control.

Russia illegally annexed Donetsk and three other regions in 2022 and one of the Kremlin's key war aims is to control the region.

Vladimir Putin, who secured another term as Russian president in March, has vowed to carve out a "sanitary zone" to protect Russia's border regions from Ukrainian shelling and incursions.

While he didn't go into specifics, Russian milbloggers and experts have said Moscow could also try to capture Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv, which Russia tried and failed to storm in the opening days of the war.

Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A major Russian missile attack has killed at least eight people, injured 25 and damaged infrastructure in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, local officials have said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack damaged multiple storeys of a residential building and a train station in the regional capital, Dnipro, as he called for more air defences.

"Russia must be held accountable for its terror, andevery missile, every Shahed must be shot down," the Ukrainian president said, referring to an Iranian-made drone.

"The world can guarantee this, and our partners have thenecessary capabilities."

A Russian attack in the early hours of this morning also injured three and damaged infrastructure in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, a local official said.

Before we bring you today's updates, here is a reminder of what's happened in the past 24 hours:

• Two men were arrested in Germany on Russian spy charges;
• Ukraine launched an attack on a Russian airfield in Crimea;
• The Kremlin claimed US aid would not help Ukraine;
• Russia claimed Ukraine struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

That's it from our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for today.

We'll be back again with more updates, but here's a round up of a day that saw the death toll from the worst Russian strike in weeks rise to 18.

Another 78 were wounded when three missiles slammed into the northern city of Chernihiv, causing a building to collapse.

The strike redoubled Volodymyr Zelenskyy's calls for further air defence munitions, and forced that issue high up the agenda of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Italy.

It even seemed to spark some progress in Washington, where funding for Ukraine has been tangled up in political squabbles for more than 40 months.

Two arrested in Germany on Russian spy charges

Two men were arrested in Germany for allegedly plotting sabotage attacks, including on American military facilities, in an effort to undermine support for Ukraine, according toGerman prosecutors.

Authorities searched the homes and workplaces of the two suspects, both German-Russian nationals, who are accused of working for a foreign secret service.

Berlin's foreign ministry later summoned the Russian ambassador following the arrests.

Ukraine needs $42bn (£34bn) in budgetary support this year as it continues to fightthe Russian invasion, the head of the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) has said.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said Russia's war against Ukraine needed to end, calling it both a human tragedy and a drag on growth prospects for the global economy.

She added that she saw globalsupport for Ukraine remaining firm.

G7 membersare considering using nearly $300bn (£240bn) in frozen Russianassets as collateral to provide loans to Ukraine.

European Commission executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis made the revelation at a meeting of the group's foreign ministers in Italy.

He added that different options were also under consideration,and the discussions were ongoing.

Mr Dombrovskis said he hoped the EU - where the bulk of the frozen assets are held - would approve a separate EUmeasure in coming months to use the profits or interest earnedon the assets to help Ukraine.

NATO is working tosend more air defence systems to Ukraine, secretary general JensStoltenberg has said.

Speaking at a meeting of foreign ministersof the G7, he said: "We have compiled data about the different air defencesystems we have in NATO and focused on the Patriot systems.

"Andwe are working with allies to ensure that they redeploy some oftheir systems to Ukraine.

"I am encouraged by the commitment and the determination byNATO allies to stand up for Ukraine."

Mr Stoltenberg added that he wasseeing encouraging signs that the US Congress might soonpass an aid package for Ukraine.

Here are the latest pictures from the front and from behind the lines as the war in Ukraine rages on.

Ukrainian strikes in Russia

A couple stand near a house damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack in Voronezh, Russia.

Several structures were destroyed in the strike.

G7 foreign ministers meet in Italy

Ukraine's air defences is a key issue for ministers gathered on the Italian island of Capri, following a German appeal on Wednesday to the EuropeanUnion and NATO to do more to help Kyiv.

German president inspects troops

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Bundeswher troops training in Munster, Germany.

Much of the tank training Ukrainian troops have undergone has taken place near the western German city.

Prague protest

Protesters carry wooden crosses in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and place them in front of the US embassy in Prague in protest at the lives lost due to "American hesitancy" during a rally called "Defend Ukrainian skies" in the Czech capital.

G7 foreign ministers have warned that Ukraine risks being defeated by Russia unless it receives more air defences.

More than two years into Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv is facing an ammunition shortage, with vital American funding still tied up in political wrangling on Capitol Hill andthe EU failing to deliver sufficient munitions promptly.

The ministers began a second day of talks on the Italian island of Capri by discussing the Middle East crisis and were expected to turn to Ukraine in the afternoon, when they were due to be joined by the head of NATO and Ukraine's foreign minister.

The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who attends G7 gatherings alongside his American Italian, German, French, British, Japanese and Canadian counterparts, urged EU nations to hand over air defence systems to help Ukraine protect its cities from Russia, which is targeting key infrastructure.

"Otherwise, the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed. And no country can fight without having electricity at home, in the factories, online, for everything," he told reporters.

Russian air defences shot down what they described as five Ukrainian balloons overnight, according to the Kremlin's defence ministry.

Neither Moscow nor Kyiv have provided details about the balloons, which Russian authorities reported appearing on the battlefield in recent weeks.

According to Russian news reports, the Ukrainian balloons are equipped with a GPS module and carry explosives.

They are allegedly are harder to detect and could carry larger payloads than conventional, smaller drones.

It is not clear if the balloons are lifted by helium, hot air or something else entirely.

They aren't controllable once in the air, with the GPS module likely being used to co-ordinate the release of explosives if the balloon floats over a specific area.

Three Ukrainian balloons and one drone were downed over the Voronezh region, which borders the occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine.

Two others were intercepted in the Belgorod region of Russia next to Ukraine, according to the Russian defence ministry.

As well as the balloons, Russia claimed it intercepted two Ukrainian tactical missiles, 19 rockets and 16 drones during the night.