Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s warplanes destroyed in huge drone attack as Kyiv counteroffensive moves south

Forced to shield its school-children from the threat of supersonic Russian missiles fired at short range, Ukraine‘s eastern metropolis of Kharkiv has built dozens of classrooms in metro stations to allow some pupils to return to in-person teaching.

Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second largest city, had a population of more than 1.4 million before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Parts of the city lie less than 20 miles from the Russian border. Its northern suburbs were scarred by fighting.

Kharkiv’s schools have been forced to teach online throughout the war as some Russian missiles can reach the city in under a minute – not enough time to get from many classrooms to a shelter.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Tuesday that 60 school rooms been created in Kharkiv’s metro stations ahead of the new school year in September, creating space for more than 1,000 children to study in-person.

“The children will be able to socialise with each other, find a common language, communicate. I absolutely support this,” said Iryna Loboda, the mother of a schoolboy outside a metro station in the city centre where classrooms have been built.

The Kremlin on Wednesday said that the probe into the plane crash which killed Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin last week was a Russian investigation, and that there could be no question of an international investigation.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia‘s investigation took into account the possibility that the crash had been caused deliberately.

In an earlier statement, the Kremlin rejected the suggestion that Prigozhin had been killed on its orders as an “absolute lie”.

Since the crash last week, there has been intense speculation Russian president Vladimir Putin had ordered Prigozhin’s death as revenge for the June mutiny.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has shared a message of hope, praising the “bravery and determination of our warriors”, on the 553rd day since Russia invaded the country.

Writing on X/Twitter, Mr Zelensky said: “Now, as every day of these 553 days, the resilience of our warriors makes all the difference.

“Our resilience. Not some attempts and plans of Russia. But the bravery and determination of our warriors.

The strength and unity of our people – all those who work for our victory and all those who support our heroes and the Ukrainian state. To preserve all elements of our resilience is to guarantee victory.”

The Ministry of Defence has said Russia is convicting close to 100 soldiers every week for refusing to fight in Ukraine, in its latest security briefing.

At this rate, there will be at least 5,200 convictions this year, the MoD added.

“The high rate of convictions demonstrates the poor state of morale in the Russian Army and the reluctance of some elements to fight,” the government said, noting the refusal to fight “reflects the lack of training, motivation and high stress situations Russian forces face along the entire Ukrainian frontline”.

“Although some soldiers have refused to fight and attrition rates remain high, Russia highly likely mitigates their loss by committing a mass of poorly trained soldiers to the frontline.”

At least two people were killed and two wounded in an attack on Kyiv on Wednesday morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app, as debris from targets destroyed by air defences fell on several buildings in the Ukrainian capital.

The bodies of two people were found in a nonresidential building and one person was wounded by glass shards, Mr Klitschko said, adding that debris fell in four places in the capital.

“Kyiv has not experienced such a powerful attack since spring. The enemy launched a massive, combined attack using drones and missiles,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the city’s military administration said on Telegram

He said that at the beginning several groups of drones were heading for Kyiv from different directions. Russia then launched missiles from Tu-95 strategic aircrafts.

“All in all, the air defence forces destroyed more than 20 enemy targets,” Popko said.

Kyiv authorities said several buildings were damaged by debris while officials in Kyiv region reported that several houses were damaged by missile fragments.

Russia says at least four of its military transport planes were damaged after Ukraine launched its biggest drone attack on Russian soil since the beginning of the invasion.

The Biden administration said it will send an additional $250m in weapons and ammunition to Ukraine as part of its ongoing support of Kyiv’s counteroffensive.

The weapons will be drawn from existing US stockpiles and will include mine-clearing equipment, artillery and rocket rounds, ambulances and medical gear, among other items and spare parts, according to the state department.

“The package will help Ukrainian forces on the battlefield and support its air defenses as Russia continues to launch brutal, brutal strikes against the people of Ukraine, including attacks this past week,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Russia on Wednesday briefly shut down airspace over Moscow and Tula Oblasts after reports of drone strikes on six regions of the country, according to Russian state media.

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport was closed for the night, while flights at Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports were delayed, TASS reported.

The closure was ordered after officials said the military was repelling a drone attack on an airport in the western city of Pskov.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is not planning to attend the funeral of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin following his death in a plane crash, the Kremlin has said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t say where or when the chief of the Wagner Group military company would be buried.

St. Petersburg’s Fontanka news outlet and some other media said Prigozhin, 62, will likely be put to rest at the Serafimovskoye cemetery, which has previously been used for high-profile military burials.

On Tuesday, heavy police cordons encircled the cemetery, where Mr Putin’s parents are also buried. Increased police presence was also reported at some other city cemeteries.

President Vladimir Putin moved his £75m superyacht three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine to avoid having it seized as part of war sanctions, a new investigation has claimed.

Secret documents released by Russian investigative journalist Maria Pevchikh, who heads the anti-corruption foundation set up by Alexei Navalny, show the Russian president had his yacht ‘Graceful’ sail from from Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany to the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad two weeks before the invasion.

The documents show an email was sent by an employee of Russia’s largest shipping company, the SCF Group, to Blohm & Voss saying the owner of Graceful is unhappy with an ongoing “refit” and wants the ship to sail out of the Hamburg port on 1 February 2022.