Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv stages one of deadliest strikes since invasion began 600 miles inside Russia

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed a drone deal and ⁠food security with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday.

“There are domains in which Ukraine and Saudi ⁠Arabia can strengthen ​each ⁠other’s ability to protect lives and people,” he said on ⁠X after the call.

Speaking later ​in ⁠his nightly video ‌address, Zelensky said a team of Ukrainian officials was in the ‌region “and there are already areas ‌in which our relations are developing well. I am counting on reciprocity in ⁠our mutual support.

“Ukraine and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on military cooperation in March when the president met the crown prince.

Ukraine has developed expertise in dealing with Iranian-designed ‌drones over more than 4-1/2 ​years of war with Russia.

It has also ⁠signed deals on drone ⁠development with other countries in the Middle East ‌and ​Gulf and elsewhere.

He said they also discussed Saudi Arabia’s recent defence agreements with Türkiye and Pakistan.

The development signals a significant recalibration of Moscow’s military footprint in the region.

The Hmeimem air base and the Tartus naval base served as crucial Russian military outposts in the eastern Mediterranean throughout Syria’s civil war.

Russia was the primary political and military ally of former president Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December 2024 by Isis-affiliated insurgents led by now-leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, and subsequently sought exile in Russia.

Five people were killed and 20 were injured after a Russian attack in the ⁠southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Tuesday.

Zaporizhzhia regional governor Ivan Fedorov said Russian troops deployed ⁠missiles and aerial bombs on ​the ⁠city.

He ‌posted pictures showing buildings and vehicles ablaze. Air raid alerts were ‌sounded in both ‌Zaporizhzhia and in Kyiv.

Missiles also struck Kyiv, sparking fires and injuring one person.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said medical personnel had been dispatched to a central district. Kyiv’s air ‌raid alert was lifted ​after 40 minutes ‌and then issued again ⁠later well after midnight.

Local officials have been issued recruitment quotas by the Kremlin and Moscow’s defence ministry as it looks to meet this year’s 409,000 target, sources familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.

The Russian-held part of Zaporizhzhia region in south-east Ukraine was largely without electricity on Monday after Ukrainian attacks destroyed key power facilities, the Russian-appointed local authorities said.

On Russia’s Black Sea coast, power outages were also recorded in parts of Novorossiysk, a major export port, and in the holiday resort of Gelendzhik, the regional authorities said on the Telegram messaging app.

Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian energy and power infrastructure this year, saying it wants to bring the price of Russia’s war home to ordinary Russians. Ukraine’s own cities have been under repeated attack since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022.

Russia’s Supreme Court on Monday barred the liberal Yabloko party from contesting September’s parliamentary elections, sidelining the only officially registered party that opposes Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine, the decision highlights the authorities’ intolerance of anti-war views and further narrows the already limited space for dissent in Russian politics.

“Excluding Yabloko from the election means refusing dialogue with people who ask questions that are uncomfortable for the authorities,” Nikolai Rybakov, the party’s leader, said, vowing to appeal the decision.

The court ruled in favour of a lawsuit filed by the small pro-Kremlin nationalist party Rodina, which sought Yabloko’s exclusion from the election. Rodina alleged that Yabloko had received undeclared campaign support, including from Western sources, among other accusations.

During a day-long hearing, Rybakov said there was no evidence to support the allegations and described the case as an unconstitutional attack on freedom of thought by political opponents seeking to clear the field of rivals.

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have been on hold since February, when the United States shifted focus to its new war in the Middle East.

Moscow and Kyiv walked away from talks in Geneva no closer to a deal, as Ukraine suggested the US was unfairly demanding Kyiv alone make concessions to end the war.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said the last round of direct talks had been “difficult” and accused Russia of deliberately stalling, with the issue of territory still in dispute.

What does either side want?

Russia insists on its demands for Ukrainian territory and the withdrawal of forces from its borders.

Ukraine insists it needs clear security guarantees from allies to stop Russia reopening the conflict and says it cannot and will not give up territory sought by Russia.

The lands in the east include industry heavy regions and Ukraine’s belt of ‘fortress cities’ to protect against invasion.

Volodymyr Zelensky said late in April that he was keen to meet with Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, in an effort to restart negotiations.

While Ukraine claimed a string of wins on the ground, Zelensky warned that US attention on the war with Iran was soaking up resources and leaving Ukraine with critical shortages of air defences.

But the Kremlin said Putin would only meet Zelensky in Moscow for the purpose of finalising agreements on the conflict.

Turkey said it was making efforts to restart talks and bring together the leaders, after hosting delegations in July 2025.

Video published on Sunday showed the moment of impact from above as a loitering drone hit the side of the truck with devastating effect, sending smoke billowing from the wreckage.

Ukraine is urgently seeking more Patriot interceptors to defend against a nightly barrage of Russian ballistic missile strikes.

But the Iran war has drained arsenals in the US and the Gulf, and some European countries are holding onto missiles they may need for their own defense.

So what are the Patriot interceptor missiles?

Patriot, short for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a mobile surface-to-air missile defense system built by US weapons maker Raytheon Technologies that can be used in all kinds of weather and at long range.

A typical battery includes radar and control systems, a power unit, launchers, and support vehicles. The system can intercept aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, depending on the interceptor used.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked Western allies for more air defences to protect critical infrastructure and civilian areas from frequent Russian missile and drone attacks.

While effective at intercepting missiles and aircraft, Patriots are a costly way to shoot down low-budget drones. Patriot interceptors are estimated at around $4 million per missile, CSIS says, while Russia can send hundreds of cheap drones a day.

Although not originally designed to intercept hypersonic weapons, in May 2023 the US confirmed Ukraine had used the Patriot system to shoot down a Russian Kinzhal missile, which Moscow claims is hypersonic.

Russia has long said that giving Ukraine interceptors would amount to a direct escalation. They said it would delay the chance of peace.

But Donald Trump’s main line of argument is that the US needs its weapons and cannot afford to give them away to Ukraine. Indeed, the Patriots have been in short supply since the US went to war with Iran in February.

Trump in July offered Ukraine the right to make its own Patriot interceptors, but later reneged, saying the US has “not agreed” to such an arrangement.

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv came under attack from Russian ballistic missiles early on Tuesday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Witnesses reported explosions in the capital.