Ukraine-Russia war latest news: Kyiv’s drones fly record 1,100 miles to strike Putin’s bombers

Five civilians have been killed and 15 others injured in Russian strikes on Saturday and overnight in Donetsk, the region’s governor has said.

Shortly after governor Vadym Filashkin reported the casualties, other local Ukrainian officials said Russian shelling had wounded more civilians in the east and south.

At least eight people were injured after Moscow’s forces struck the eastern Ukrainian city of Nikopol on Sunday, local governor Serhii Lysak reported. He said a toddler and a 10-year-old girl were among the victims, six of whom needed hospital treatment.

Russian shelling on Sunday also wounded eight more civilians, including a 10-year-old and two teenagers, in a village in the southern Kherson region, local official Roman Mrochko reported.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni is set to raise the issue of Chinese economic support for Russia in its war against Ukraine as she vows to “relaunch” cooperation between Rome and Beijing.

The hard-right premier made the announcement on signing a three-year action plan while meeting Chinese counterpart Li Qiang during her first official visit to Beijing since taking office, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.

Italy is seeking to improve trade ties with Beijing after it exited president Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road infrastructure investment scheme last year.

Ms Meloni is expected to raise Chinese overcapacity with Chinese officials, as well as Chinese economic support for Russia in its war with Ukraine.

Moscow has claimed that its forces have taken the villages of Prohres and Yevhenivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russian news agencies reported.

A day earlier, Russia also claimed to have seized the Donetsk town of Lozuvatske, several hundred kilometres to the west of the two villages it claimed today.

Three tanks at an oil storage depot in Russia’s Kursk region caught fire as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack, acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov has said.

Kyiv’s General Staff said that Ukrainian forces had struck the Polevaya oil depot in the Kursk region, resulting in “powerful explosions” and a fire and were still assessing the full impact of the attack.

A fire at one of the tanks was quickly extinguished, but 82 firefighters were involved in trying to put out fires at the other two tanks, using 32 pieces of equipment, Mr Smirnov said.

The drones also damaged a couple of residential buildings in the region, injuring one person, Mr Smirnov said.

Russia’s defence ministry said that its air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Kursk region.

Vladimir Putin has claimed that if Washington deploys long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 then Russia would station similar missiles in striking distance of the West.

Washington said earlier this month that it would start deploying long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 in preparation for a longer-term deployment that will include SM-6, Tomahawk cruise missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons.

In a speech to sailors from Russia, China, Algeria and India to mark Russian navy day in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg, Mr Putin warned the US that it risked triggering a Cold War-style missile crisis with the move.

“The flight time to targets on our territory of such missiles, which in the future may be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be about 10 minutes,” Putin said. “We will take mirror measures to deploy, taking into account the actions of the United States, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world.”

It is unclear which country he is referring to. But the Russian president’s claims come after three Russian warships arrived in Cuban waters on Saturday, marking the second such maritime voyage in as many months – in a reflection of deepening ties between Russia and Cuba.

Russia’s air defence systems destroyed seven drones launched by Ukraine overnight, the Russian defence ministry said this morning.

Five drones were destroyed over the Belgorod region and two over the Kursk region, both bordering Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Three tanks at an oil storage depot in Russia’s Kursk region caught fire as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack, acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov said on Sunday.

No one was injured in the attack, and a fire at one of the tanks was quickly extinguished. At least 82 firefighters were involved in trying to put out fires at the other two tanks, Mr Smirnov said on the Telegram messaging app.

Three Russian warships arrived in Cuban waters on Saturday, Moscow’s second such maritime voyage in as many months in a reflection of deepening ties between Russia and Cuba.

The naval group, consisting of a training ship, patrol frigate and refueling tanker, are expected to remain docked in Cuba’s port of Havana until 30 July.

The arrival of the vessels comes mere weeks after another squadron of Russian warships, including a powerful nuclear-powered submarine, visited Havana as part of planned military exercises last month.

American officials closely tracked the mid-June military exercises, saying that the four-vessel group posed no real threat. At the time, experts described the warships’ Caribbean tour as a symbolic show of strength in response to continued US and Western support for Ukraine.

Cuban defense officials announced the latest port call earlier this week, calling the arrival of the Russian warships a “historical practice” and show of “friendship and collaboration.” But neither government elaborated on the purpose of this latest deployment.

Cuba greeted the Baltic fleet on Saturday with a booming cannon salute. The docking of the flotilla has sparked a flurry of excitement among the general public, with Cubans strolling the port avenue to get a better glimpse of the warships Saturday and authorities saying interested visitors would be admitted on board the Russian training ship, called Smolniy, on Sunday and Monday.

“It’s a friendly thing. A bond between Russia and the Cubans,” said 29-year-old onlooker Maydelis Perez, pointing the hulking warships out to her three children. “I’m taking a family outing.”