???? Live: Overnight attack on Kyiv ‘exceptional in density,’ local officials say

Issued on: 16/05/2023 – 07:25Modified: 16/05/2023 – 08:11

7:52am: Ukraine says shot down all 18 missiles Russia launched overnight

Ukraine forces shot down all 18 missiles that Russia launched in a concentrated overnight attack on Ukraine, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said.

Russia launched six Kinzhal ballistic missiles from aircraft, nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three Iskander land-based missiles, Zaluzhnyi said on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that six Iranian-made Shahed drones were also shot down and three reconnaissance drones

6:12am: EU should crack down on imports of Indian fuels made with Russian oil, Borrell says

The European Union should crack down on India reselling Russian oil into Europe as refined fuels including diesel, the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, Josep Borrell, said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe … coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures,” the bloc’s chief diplomat said

5:43am: New CIA Telegram video urges Russians to leak information

The US Central Intelligence Agency bolstered efforts to convince Russians to leak their country’s secrets on Monday, posting an emotional video on Telegram aimed at people frustrated with the situation under President Vladimir Putin.

The short video depicts a Russian bureaucrat and a woman at home with a child, both apparently troubled in their lives, asking if it is what they dreamed of.

4:48am: Overnight attack on Kyiv ‘exceptional in its density’, officials say

Russia’s overnight air attack on Kyiv – its eighth in May – was complex, with drones, cruise and likely ballistic missiles launched from different directions, Kyiv’s officials said early on Tuesday.

“It was exceptional in its density – the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app.

“According to preliminary information, the vast majority of enemy targets in the airspace of Kyiv were detected and destroyed!”

2:46am: Several blasts in Kyiv, says mayor

There were blasts in several districts of Kyiv in early hours on Tuesday, city officials said, with no immediate information about the extent of the damage and potential casualties.

“Explosions in Kyiv. A few – in the Solomyanskyi district,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram channel. He added that falling debris fell onto the city’s zoo in the Shevchenkivskyi district.

In a separate post, Klitschko added that falling debris set ablaze several cars in the Solomyanskyi district.

Key developments from Monday, May 15:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued his European tour with a visit to the UK for talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Ahead of the meeting Britain said Monday that it would deliver “hundreds” of both air-defence missiles and long-range attack drones to Ukraine.

A top Chinese envoy will began a tour of Ukraine, Russia and other European cities on Monday in a trip Beijing says is aimed at discussing a “political settlement” to the Ukraine crisis. Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia is due to arrive in Ukraine on Tuesday.

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. 

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)