Russia Ukraine war: Kyiv destroys Putin’s ferry in Crimea as new Russian base appears near frontline

Ukraine’s air defences shot down 17 out of 23 attack drones as well as eight reconnaissance drones fired by Russia in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian air force said this morning.

Russian forces also used two missiles in their overnight strike on Ukraine, the air force said.

At least three people were wounded after a Russian drone attack hit the southern Ukrainian city of Izmail overnight. The strike damaged port infrastructure and a residential building, officials said.

Rescuers were working to clear up the consequences of the strike, officials from Izmail’s state administration said.

Ukraine will gradually move away from seeking military aid from the West as Volodymyr Zelensky lauded Kyiv’s missile programme yesterday, backing the war-hit nation to achieve “maximum defence independence”.

“Our missile programme is showing good dynamics, and although it is a challenging task, we are gradually approaching the possibility of using our own missiles, and not just relying on missiles supplied by our partners,” he said in his nightly address.

He held a meeting with top army officials, including Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi where he discussed Ukraine’s “real” frontline situation with Russia’s “intentions and capabilities”.

“Over time, Ukraine should achieve maximum defence independence, as such states always find effective allies and realise their interests more easily,” Mr Zelensky said.

Kyiv has enjoyed successes against Russia using its domestically-produced drones, but has relied heavily on its partners in the US and Europe for missiles and anti-missile systems.

“Ukrainian warriors have already proven to be real innovators in many areas of drone use. And it is worth continuing, and we will continue this,” the Ukrainian president said.

Two people were injured in a car blast in Moscow, Russia’s interior ministry said this morning.

The ministry said that the blast was caused by the detonation of an unidentified object. No further details on the type of unidentified object and injuries were immediately available.

A civilian was killed in Russia’s air attacks on Kharkiv, the mayor of the city in Ukraine’s east said this morning. The details of the casualty are not immediately clear.

The Russian missile and drone strikes also targeted several neighbourhoods in the city around 5am, regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said. The strikes hit a non-residential building in the Nemshlyan district and damaged at least five cars.

Another two civilians were injured in a Shahed drone attack on Malodanyliva community which caused a fire in the area, the governor said. The injured were nursed by doctors provided on the spot, he added.

A private residential building was also set ablaze after coming under a rocket attack. The law enforcement officers are investigating the type of rocket used by Russian forces. “All emergency services are working to eliminate the consequences of Russian aggression,” the head of the regional Kharkiv administration said.

Russia launched several waves in its attack on the city, which is also the administrative centre of the broader Kharkiv region and which borders Russia.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the 27-month-old war, which Russia started with a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour.

Ukrainian forces have “seriously damaged” a ferry in occupied Crimea which was being used by Russian forces to transport military equipment, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said last night.

“Today, the grouping of forces and means of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, together with units of other components of the Defence Forces, caused significant damage to the enemy ferry ‘Slavyanin’ in the port ‘Kavkaz’,” the General Staff said.

Russian occupiers were using the ferry to transport railway wagons, motor vehicles and containers for military purposes, it said. The Ukrainian forces also hinted at a “next target” in the region, without providing more details.

The ferry was reportedly the third and last railway ferry being used by Russian forces in the region. The attack, which took place in the early hours yesterday, killed one and injured others, local governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram.

Russian forces have built a military base just 200km from the Ukraine war frontline in Rostov city, a new investigation has found.

The new military base is being used to conduct strikes into Ukraine and has been set up near to a penal colony and two secondary schools, reported Skhemy, a Ukrainian investigative media outlet.

“According to Planet Labs satellite images, the Russian army set up a new military base in May 2024 between a penal colony and two half-built secondary schools, on the site of another abandoned military facility – cooks’ school No 195 of the Civil Defence Forces, which closed in 2011,” it said.

Work on the base likely began last summer as, after 12 years of inactivity, changes began to take place at the abandoned premises of the former military school, the outlet said.