Ukraine war latest: Ukraine 'destroys Russian Black Sea minesweeper' (2024)

A seven-month pregnant woman was among five people killed in strikes on aKharkiv recreation area, local police said.

At least 16 people were injured; eight of them are in a serious condition, police said.

An 8-year-old child received minor injuries and a police officer and paramedic were injured in the second strike, they added.

You can see some photos from the scene in this Facebook post from Kharkiv police...

President Salome Zourabichvili has vetoed a controversial bill which sparked weeks of mass protests Georgia - but it is likely her veto will be overturned by the government majority.

The "foreign agents" billpassed by parliamentearlier this week would force media and non-governmental organisations and other non-profit groups to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive more than 20% of funding from abroad.

The president said the bill, which the US has described as a "Kremlin style law", contradicts Georgia's constitution and "all European standards", adding it "must be abolished".

She is increasingly at odds with the ruling party, Georgian Dream, considered by many as pro-Russian.

Read more about the rule and what the president's veto means below...

The number of people killed in Russian airstrikesin arecreation area just outside Kharkiv has risen to five, and at least 16 are injured.

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov gave update on Telegram, saying: "The explosions heard in Kharkiv around noon occurred ina nearby suburb.

"Two Russian missiles hit a recreation centrewhere people were relaxing, killing five people and injuringsixteen others."

Yaroslav Trofimko, an inspector with the local police department, said there "never any soldiers here".

"It was a Sunday, peoplewere supposed to be here to rest, children were supposed to hehere, pregnant women, resting, enjoying a normal way of life."

He arrived on the scene after the first blast, and was therewhen the second strike hit the same scene around 20 minuteslater.

Ukraine has frequently accused Russia of using "double tap"strikes to kill or injure emergency workers at the scene ofstrike impacts.

Kharkiv's governor Oleh Syniehubov earlier said a paramedic was among those injured.

Russian air defences downed103 Ukrainian drones and 12 United States-made ATACMS missilesover the past 24 hours, the Russian defence ministry said .

Russian officials earlier said that Ukraine had fired nineATACMS at Crimea and attacked Russian regions with at least 60drones, forcing one oil refinery in southern Russia to haltoperations.

We're getting more news from the scene of a Russian strike in a northern suburb of Kharkiv where four people were killed, as reported in our 10.30 post.

The number of people reported injured has risen from eight to 15.

A recreation area was destroyed, according to Reuters correspondents at the site.

Rescuers described a powerful blast, followed by a second, "double tap" strikeabout fifteen minutes later.

A man's corpse lay under the rubble of what just over anhour previously was a busy lakeside restaurant area on a sunnyday.

A woman stumbled around in shock looking for her handbag inthe wreckage.

"The occupiers attacked the area where local residents wererelaxing," Kharkiv's governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said on Telegram.

In recent weeks, Kharkiv city and the region of the samename have been under constant attack by Russian missiles andguided bombs as Russian troops have launched an offensive in thenortheast of the region.

Ukraine fired long-range missiles at Crimea and attacked Russia with at least 60drones in a major attack last night.

Meanwhile Ukraine says it destroyed more than 30 Russian drones.

Russian air defences shot down 57 Ukrainian drones over its southern Krasnodar region, the country's defence ministry said.

As we reported in our 8.26 post, an oil refinery hit by debris had to halt operations, with local military officials saying there was no fire or damage.

Local news outlet Astra published videos appearing to show an explosion at the refinery as it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.

Nine long-range ballistic missiles and a drone were destroyed over the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula following Friday morning’s massive Ukrainian drone attack that cut off power in the city of Sevastopol.

The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's partially occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said one person died and 16 were wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit a minibus on Sunday morning.

In Ukraine, air force officials said air defence shot down all 37 Russian drones launched against the country overnight (more in our 7.20 post).

Four people have been killed and at least eight more injured in a Russian airstrike on Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials say.

Kharkiv's governor Oleh Syniehubov said the strike hit the residential area of Malodanyliv.

A paramedic was among those injured, he said on Telegram.

Kharkiv has been the target of frequent airstrikes since Russia began its new offensive on the northeastern region late last week.

Residential buildings have been destroyed and Ukraine has accused Russia of targeting civilians, saying it is investigating this as a "potential war crime".

Governor Oleh Syniehubov said this morning that one person died and 11 were wounded as a result of shelling on Saturday.

Here are some of the latest pictures from the city...

Ukrainian forces have destroyedRussian Black Sea fleet minesweeper, a statement from theUkrainian navy said.

"Last night the Ukrainian Defence Forces destroyed theRussian Black Sea Fleet's Project 266-M Kovrovets minesweeper,"it said on Telegram.

As Russia’s new invasion of northern Ukraine ticks into its second week, Trevor Philips asks Defence Secretary Grant Shapps if we are creating a stalemate in the war with Russia.

It comes after Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week: "We are in a nonsense situation where the West is afraid that Russia will lose the war. And it does not want Ukraine to lose it."

Grant Shapps says he went to Ukraine earlier this year and made the point that "by delaying what we should be doing - and in fact now have, through particularly what [the US] Congress has done - we are running the risk of doing exactly what President Zelensky is concerned about".

He goes on: "I think this is completely nonsensical for the West. We have to understand we are in an existential battle about the way we run the world order and about democracy itself."

He accuses autocratic countries of trying to "impose" their systems on "free and democratic countries", declaring: "We have to stand up to that."