Ukraine-Russia conflict newest: Putin’s forces seize Donetsk village as eight wounded in drone assault

The airport in the Russian city of Kazan reopened on Saturday after temporarily closing earlier in the day following a Ukrainian drone attack, Russia’s aviation watchdog said.

Russian state news agencies reported the drone attack on a residential complex and other areas in Kazan, some 500 miles (800 km) east of Moscow.

The Defence Ministry said the city had been attacked by three waves of drones between 7:40 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. (0440 and 0620 GMT). It said three drones were destroyed by air defence systems and three others by electronic warfare systems.

There were no casualties reported, agencies said, citing local authorities. The mayor of Kazan said on Telegram that all planned mass events in the city would be canceled over the weekend and that authorities would offer temporary accommodation to evacuees.

The Baza Telegram channel, which is close to Russia’s security services, published unverified video footage showing an aerial object crashing into a high-rise building, producing a large fireball.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is personally overseeing training of soldiers to be sent to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to South Korean intelligence reports, after Pyongyang’s inexperienced forces were said to have suffered a high number of casualties.

South Korean MP Lee Seong-kweun claimed at least 100 North Korean soldiers had been killed in the war, citing a briefing to parliament by the National Intelligence Service.

“There was a report that there have been at least 100 deaths and the injured are approaching 1,000,” he said.

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Moscow sent 113 drones into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, 57 drones were shot down during the attacks while further 56 drones were “lost”, likely having been electronically jammed.

The governor of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said eight people were wounded on Friday night in drone attacks on the regional capital, also called Kharkiv.

During boasts about Russia’s military achievements in his annual marathon televised news conference, Vladimir Putin says he is ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks on ending his war and has no conditions for starting discussions.

The Russian president told one reporter he was ready to meet Donald Trump, who he said he had not spoken to for years.

The US president-elect has vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine war, without giving any details on how he might achieve that.

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Ukraine has brought the war into the heart of Russia with drone attacks that damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, more than 600 miles from the front line.

The press service of Tatarstan’s governor, Rustam Minnikhanov, said that eight drones attacked the city.

Six hit residential buildings, one hit an industrial facility and one was shot down over a river, the statement said.

A video posted on local Telegram news channel Astra, verified by The Associated Press, shows a drone flying into the upper floors of a high-rise building.

Local authorities said there were no casualties. Flights were halted at Kazan’s airport and all mass gatherings cancelled on Saturday and Sunday.

The attacks, which Ukraine did not acknowledge in keeping with its security policy, comes after a Ukrainian attack on Friday on a town in Russia’s Kursk border region using US-supplied missiles killed six people, including a child.

Russian troops have captured the village of Kostiantynopolske in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

The reports have not been independently verified.

The US State Department on Friday condemned a Russian missile attack on Kyiv earlier in the day that killed a civilian and damaged a building hosting several diplomatic missions.

“Any attack against diplomats or diplomatic facilities anywhere is unacceptable,” department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a post on X.

Six people, including one child, were killed on Friday in a Ukrainian missile attack on the town of Rylsk in Russia’s Kursk region, the acting governor, Alexander Khinshtein, said.

Ten wounded people, including a 13-year-old, were taken to hospital with minor injuries, Khinshtein wrote on Telegram.

“What happened today is a huge tragedy for all of us,” he said. “We grieve together with the families of the victims. No one will be left without support.”

Those responsible would receive “well-deserved retribution”, he said.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the incident.

Two Russian airports have temporarily halted operations following a Ukrainian drone attack, Russia’s aviation watchdog said.

Kazan airport has temporarily halted flight arrivals and departures, Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said via the Telegram messaging app on Saturday, following a Ukrainian drone attack on the city.

Russian state news agencies reported the drone attack on a residential complex in Kazan, a city some 500 miles east of Moscow. The TASS agency said eight drone strikes had been recorded including six on residential structures.

There were no casualties reported, agencies said, citing local authorities.

The Baza Telegram channel, which is close to Russia’s security services, published unverified video footage showing an aerial object crashing into a high-rise building, producing a large fireball.

Rosaviatsia said it was also introducing temporary restrictions at the airport in Izhevsk, a smaller city northeast of Kazan.