Live blog: Russian strike kills four, wounds 20 in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia

Friday, April 5, 2024

1851 GMT — A Russian strike in Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia has killed at least four people and wounded another 20, the regional governor has said.

An earlier report by regional governor Ivan Fedorov on Telegram said that three people were dead and another 13 wounded.

Ukrainian authorities said that Russia had carried out a double strike, which involves bombing a location first, then timing a second attack on the same site for when emergency services arrive.

"Two missiles were fired first, then 40 minutes later another hit the same target as the rescuers and police began working," said Fedorov in a video.

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1751 GMT — Stoltenberg concerned over Russian spying activities within NATO

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed concern over Russian spying activities with the Western military alliance.

"We have seen that Russian intelligence services have operated across European countries for many years. We also see attempts to step up their activities, but of course NATO allies are monitoring and following this very closely," Stoltenberg said in an interview with Germany's top-selling Bild daily.

"And we have also taken some measures to make it harder for the Russian security intelligence services to conduct illegal activities among or inside NATO allied countries," he added.

1554 GMT — Drone hits base in Moldova's pro-Russia separatist region

Pro-Russian separatists in Moldova have claimed that an explosive drone hit a military base, without causing injuries or major damage, three weeks after a similar incident.

"Today at 1435 GMT, a kamikaze drone attacked a military base of the ministry of defence of the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic in the district of Rybnitsa, six kilometres from the Ukraine border," the ministry for state security in the self-declared breakaway region said in a communique.

"The target was a radar station that suffered minor damage. A group of investigators is on-site," it added, without directly blaming Ukraine.

1512 GMT — UK's Cameron to press lawmakers in US to back Ukraine military aid

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will travel to the United States next week where he will urge politicians to approve a package of military aid for Ukraine.

Cameron said he would meet Johnson to urge him to pass the aid package.

"Britain has put forward its money for Ukraine this year, so has the European Union. America needs to do it," Cameron said on social media platform X. "Speaker Johnson can make it happen in Congress. I am going to go see him next week and say we need that money, Ukraine needs that money."

1408 GMT — Lithuania to send Ukraine 3,000 combat drones: PM

Lithuania has said that it would supply Ukraine with around 3,000 combat drones, which have become key in its fight against Russia's invasion, and also help set up three recovery centres for Ukrainian soldiers.

"In the near future, Lithuania will buy around 3,000 Lithuanian-made FPV drones for Ukraine, for two million euros," or $2.16 billion, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said at a press conference with her Ukraine counterpart Denys Shmygal.

Deliveries of the first-person view (FPV) drones could begin this year, Simonyte said.

1303 GMT — Recent strikes response to Ukrainian attacks on energy: Russia

Russia has said that its recent strikes on Ukraine were a "response" to Ukrainian attacks on its energy sector, which Kiev has frequently targeted in drone attacks.

Moscow has launched almost daily strikes on Ukraine's power grid since late March, repeating its campaign of aerial bombardment that plunged millions into darkness in 2022 and early 2023.

The Russian defence ministry said it had carried out 39 strikes against Ukraine since March 31 "in response to attempts by the Kiev regime to damage facilities in the oil and gas and energy sectors of Russia".

It said the strikes targeted Ukraine's energy sector and fuel depots as well as "enterprises of the military-industrial complex" and air defences.

0833 GMT — Ukraine destroyed six planes at Russian base: security source

Ukraine has destroyed six planes and badly damaged eight others at an air base in Russia's southern Rostov region in an overnight attack, a security source in Kiev said.

Ukraine's SBU security service and military attacked the Morozovsk airfield, the source said, adding: "At least six Russian military aircraft were destroyed and another eight were heavily damaged".

0723 GMT — Russia found pro-Ukraine data on Moscow attack suspect's phone

Russian investigators said one of the attackers behind last month's massacre at a Moscow concert hall — claimed by the Daesh — had pro-Ukrainian content on his phone.

Russian investigators said that data from one of the suspects' phones showed that on the morning of February 24 this year — the second anniversary of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine — he had trawled for photographs of the Crocus City Hall and sent it to others.

It said the suspect "had confirmed all this in his statements".

Russia's Investigative Committee also said it had found photos on the same phone showing men in camouflage holding the Ukrainian flag in front of destroyed buildings.

"This data may indicate a link between the attack" and the conflict in Ukraine, it said.

0616 GMT — Ukraine says it downed 13 drones launched by Russia overnight

Ukraine's air force shot down all 13 drones used in Russia's overnight attack on southern regions, the Ukrainian military said.

Shahed drones were destroyed over the Zaporizhzhia, Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Russia also used two S-300/S-400 missiles and three Iskander-M ballistic missiles in the attack.

One of the attacks targeted energy infrastructure in the Odessa region but air defences repelled all four drones, Ukraine's southern group of forces said on the Telegram messaging app.

The debris damaged several private residences and farm buildings in Zaporizhzhia, the statement said.

0407 GMT — Russian forces enter suburb of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine, says RIA

Russian forces have entered a suburb of the city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine's Donetsk region, the RIA news agency cited an adviser to the Russian-appointed regional head as saying.

Chasiv Yar, located about 10 kilometres (6 miles) west of Bakhmut, has served as an important staging point for Ukrainian troops in the area, and is now heavily fortified, according to RIA.

0340 GMT — Russian drone attack kills for in Ukraine’s second-largest city

Russian forces fired drones at two apartment buildings and a power plant in Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing four people, local authorities said, as the Kremlin’s forces apparently set in motion their strategy for the coming months of war by escalating the bombardment of civilian areas.

Shahed drones smashed into two apartment buildings in Kharkiv, near the Russian border, which has frequently been targeted during more than two years of war. Other drones targeted the power grid.

2322 GMT — Russia says destroyed over 40 airborne targets in Rostov-on-don

The governor of Russia's Rostov-on-Don region has said that air defence units had destroyed more than 40 airborne targets, though an electricity substation was damaged.

Vasily Golubev, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the drone attacks had focused on the Morozovsk district, northeast of Rostov-on-Don, which lies on Ukraine's eastern border.

Golubev said work was underway to restore power supplies in affected areas.

2254 GMT — Fragments of presumed Russian drone found in Moldova

Border police in Moldova said they had found and cordoned off what appeared to be fragments of an Iranian-made Russian drone just inside the country's border with Ukraine.

A police statement said the fragments were found near the villages of Etulia and Vladiceni and bore the inscription Heran-2, another name for Iranian-made Shahed drones used by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine.

The fragments were found in an area about 500 metres from the border with Ukraine, with access to the area restricted, the police said.

There were no dangerous elements in the fragments and no danger to the area's residents.

1900 GMT — US has not asked India to cut Russian oil purchases, American official

The United States has not asked India to cut Russian oil imports as the goal of sanctions and the G7-imposed $60 per barrel price cap is to have stable global oil supplies while hitting Moscow's revenue, an American treasury official said.

India has emerged as one of the top buyers of Russian sea-borne oil since Western nations imposed sanctions and halted purchases in response to Moscow's offensive in Ukraine in February 2 022.

"It is important to us to keep the oil supply on the market. But what we want to do is limit Putin's profit from it," Eric Van Nostrand, who is performing the duties of U.S. Treasury assistant secretary for economic policy, said in New Delhi, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Van Nostrand said that buyers can purchase Russian oil at deeper discounts outside of the price cap mechanism, if they do not use Western services like insurance and broking, thus limiting Moscow's sales avenues.

"They (Russia) have to sell oil for less," he said.

For our live updates from Thursday, April 4, click here.