Latest Russia-Ukraine war: Zelensky thanks Biden for support during ‘terrible war’ as kyiv gets third Patriot system

Shots were fired near the lawyer and former prosecutor’s family home in the Moldovan capital Chisinau. A hidden camera was later discovered in the house. Cars with license plates in Transnistria, a Russian enclave, followed him daily. His wife and children were harassed, as was his brother Vasile, a journalist and former MP.

Doctors suspected Nastase of being poisoned after discovering mercury levels in his blood that were five times higher than normal after he suddenly fell ill. He decided, after recovering, to send his wife and children abroad for their safety.

A fire caused by a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery in the Black Sea has been extinguished, authorities said this morning.

The refinery, owned by oil giant Rosneft, was damaged by the drone attack overnight, Krasnodar region officials said earlier.

Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery on the Black Sea, owned by oil giant Rosneft, was damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack on Thursday night, Krasnodar region officials said today.

Authorities said the damage was caused by debris from a drone shot down by Russia, which sparked a fire at the refinery that has since been brought under control. There were no casualties, the regional administration added.

It is still unclear whether the refinery was operational and the extent of the damage. Moscow rarely reveals the extent of the damage caused by Russian attacks.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that its air defense systems had destroyed 75 drones launched by Ukraine, including eight near Tuapse.

The Tuapse refinery has been the target of several Ukrainian airstrikes since the start of Russia’s war against its smaller neighbor in 2022.

Russian air defense systems destroyed 75 drones launched by Ukraine overnight, including eight near the Black Sea city of Tuapse where Russian oil giant Rosneft has a refinery, the Russian Defense Ministry said this morning.

Of these, 47 drones were shot down over the Rostov region in southwestern Russia, 17 over the waters of the Black and Azov seas, eight over the Krasnodar region, where Tuapse is located, and isolated drones over the Belgorod, Voronezh and Smolensk regions, the ministry said.

The ministry did not say whether its defense systems destroyed the drones or whether the attack caused any damage.

Sergei Boyko, head of the Tuapse district in Krasnodar region, said on Telegram that infrastructure and residential buildings were not damaged.

Russian officials rarely disclose the extent of the damage caused by the Ukrainian attacks. The Tuapse refinery has been the target of several Ukrainian airstrikes since Russia began its war against its smaller neighbor in 2022.

Russian news channels SHOT and Mash Telegram reported that a series of explosions were heard near the refinery early this morning.

Ukraine did not immediately comment. kyiv has often said that attacks on Russian military, energy and transport infrastructure were a response to Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian territory.

Istanbul-based Francisco Seco enjoys taking pictures of everyday life in cities around the world. That assignment took the Associated Press photographer to Ukraine to document the impact of the Russian invasion on the lives of athletes training for the Paris Olympics, which begin next week. Here’s what Seco had to say about capturing the extraordinary photo.

This photograph is part of a feature on Ukrainian athletes who will compete in the Olympic Games this summer in Paris. Due to the large-scale Russian invasion, many athletes are training outside Ukraine, but high jumper Oleh Doroshchuk is training in the town of Kropyvnytskyi in central Ukraine. The town has been bombed several times since the war began.

Our AP team accompanied Oleh for two days during his training sessions. On the second day, he trained in an open-air stadium, surrounded by other young athletes. A few times, he had to interrupt his training because of the noise of air raid alarms.

Ukrainian forces have received another Patriot system from Germany, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, thanking his allies for “more power for Ukraine.”

“The German Patriot system has arrived in Ukraine and I thank Germany and the United States for this step. We will be able to do more in the air. Even though there is still a lot to do and this is far from being a guarantee of protection, it nevertheless means more power for Ukraine,” he said in his speech last night, adding that the system was probably ready for deployment.

He referred to the fight against Russian missiles in the report on the situation on the front. “Today, the commander of the air force reported on the operations of our fire teams, the destruction of Shahed drones and the fight against Russian missiles. Now we can say that our air defense has been strengthened,” Zelensky said.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone, missile and shelling attacks yesterday, killing at least two people in Ukrainian strikes on the partly Russian-occupied Donetsk region, Russian state media reported.

According to Ukrainian officials, the Russian strikes left at least five people injured. Along the front line in the east, Russia said it had taken control of two villages, one in the Kharkiv region and the other in the Luhansk region.

Ukrainian shelling of Russian-controlled areas in the Donetsk region killed two people in the village of Horlivka, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Three people were injured by Russian drone strikes in the partially Russian-occupied Kherson region, local authorities said yesterday morning. In the northeast of the country, authorities in the Kharkiv region said two people were injured when a village was hit by Russian shells.

According to Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk, Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 35 of the 39 drones launched by Russia on the night of Sunday into Monday. In addition, Russia launched three ballistic missiles and two guided air missiles, which did not reach their targets, he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said yesterday that its troops had taken control of two villages: Pishchane Nizhne in the Kharkiv region and Andriivka, sometimes called Rozivka, in the Luhansk region. kyiv did not immediately comment.