Latest war news from Russia and Ukraine: Air raid sirens sound over Kiev as Putin deploys ‘low-altitude drone’

Archie Mitchell And Tom Watling Report:

According to an analysis of the debris of the crashed weapon, Russia appears to have attacked Kiev with a new type of drone at very low altitude.

In this weekend’s airstrikes, the Russian military not only fired missiles and kamikaze drones of the now familiar Shahed-136 type, but also deployed another new drone of an unknown type, according to the military analytical website Defence Express.

It was said that the drone flew at a low altitude of only 20 to 30 meters and analyzed photos of the weapon used in the attack.

The unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has “a possible wingspan of more than four meters, a broad-wing aircraft plumage, a thrust rotor and a square fuselage,” it said.

The drone’s wreckage is still being examined, the website said.

Ukrainian air defense systems have repelled Russia’s fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks, officials said, as Moscow attacked the capital with a new, unidentified type of low-flying drone.

Russia has launched “systematic attacks” and fired missiles and drones over the capital region to search for new tactics to gain advantages on the battlefield, Kyiv’s military chief said.

Neither casualties nor significant damage have been reported, said Serhiy Popko, head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, via the messaging app Telegram.

“These systematic attacks … using drones prove once again that the intruders are actively looking for an opportunity to attack Kyiv,” Popko said. “They are testing new tactics, looking for new approaches to the capital and trying to uncover the locations of our air defenses.”

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram that its air defense systems had destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles that Russia fired overnight. The weapons, according to the Air Force, targeted ten Ukrainian regions.

It was not immediately clear how many drones were launched at Kyiv.

Russia fired three Iskander ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force said, but did not disclose what happened to them.

This weekend, 25,000 music lovers will gather for Ukraine’s largest music festival, an annual event that hasn’t been held since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Journalist Paul Niland shared a video on X of a large crowd watching Ukrainian rock band BoomBox on stage. This year’s line-up will understandably consist mainly of homegrown talent, although the event has previously been headlined by global stars such as Kasabian, The Chemical Brothers and Liam Gallagher.

Speaking to the BBC, organiser Vlad Yaremchuk explained that the festival is taking place in a car park outside one of Kyiv’s largest shopping centres, so if there is a Russian airstrike, “there will be more than enough space to evacuate everyone quickly – and we are talking about minutes.” The shopping centre has a capacity of 100,000 visitors, he says.

So far, the festival, which runs from Friday to Sunday, has been running smoothly. It had to be postponed just a week after the heavy air raid on Kyiv, which hit a children’s hospital.

“We didn’t expect that we would get the chance to hold a festival while the war was still going on,” says Yaremchuk.

“Reality has shown us that cultural events are possible even in times of war.”

In southern Russia, residents outraged by frequent power outages held a rare public protest on Saturday, while officials blamed the blackouts on a heatwave.

In the city of Krasnodar, police detained at least two people as protesters demanded relief from massive power outages in several regions.

Southern Russia has been hit by unusually hot weather, leading to the shutdown of one of the four power units at the Rostov nuclear power plant, the largest in the region, earlier this week.

The plant has now been put back into operation.

“For a week now, the Krasnodar region has been experiencing unusual heat. The strain on the energy system is enormous. I know and understand the residents’ outrage over the power outages,”

Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the Krasnodar region, said this via the messaging app Telegram. He said electricity capacities are currently insufficient to meet peak demand during the hot summer months.

It was one of the rare incidents of protest in Russia, where authorities have cracked down on any form of demonstration, especially politically motivated protests, since the conflict with Ukraine began in February 2022. Given the risk of arrest, public gatherings are extremely rare.

Ukrainian officials also confirmed that the death toll following a Russian attack on the city of Mykolaiv on Friday had risen to four.

A child was among the victims, said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.

In an article about the Mykolaiv attack on social media, Zelensky said that a shell hit a playground next to an apartment block.

“Russia proves every day with its terror that ‘pressure’ is not enough,” he said.

“This destruction of life must be stopped. We need new solutions to strengthen our defense. Russia must feel the power of the world.”

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia fired four missiles and 17 drones overnight, 13 of which were shot down.

As a result of the attacks, thousands of people in the Poltava region of central Ukraine are without electricity and running water, said Governor Filip Pronin.

Ukrainian air defense systems were busy repelling a Russian air strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday morning, the Ukrainian military said.

“Air defense systems are being activated on the approach to Kyiv,” said Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, on Telegram.

Residents of the capital were ordered to remain in shelters until the air raid warning was lifted.

Thousands of households in central Ukraine were left without electricity and running water following Russian attacks in the Poltava region, as Russia continues to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Kiev troops have been forced to withdraw from some towns and villages in eastern Donetsk region following a devastating Russian attack in recent months.

The latest targets are the mining town of Toretsk and the city of Pokrovsk, where Russia is stepping up its attacks.

The Ukrainian armed forces repelled 20 and 27 attacks on these areas within 24 hours, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Friday. That is almost twice as many as at other hotspots along the front line, it said.

The Prime Minister is keen to maintain Britain’s position as one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters in the world – a role that will become even more important as support from other powers begins to falter, writes Maria Dejevsky