Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russian oil depots hit after Putin launches ballistic missile attack on Kyiv

The West has long assumed pressure would force Russia to moderate or collapse. Both assumptions misunderstand how the Kremlin responds to weakness, says senior policy adviser Dan Sleat.

In a military cemetery in Kyiv, a brother and sister walk between the crosses, carrying a bunch of carnations. Each cross in that section bears the same words: “unknown defender of Ukraine,” with an ID number below and a note that identification is ongoing.

One grave stands out: beneath the inscription, a photo was later attached, showing Ihor Yalynych, a soldier last seen alive in Kharkiv region in 2022. After four years of searching, Stanislav and Oleksandra Yalynych found their father.

Identification of the dead is a reckoning that will stretch on for years, among the longest-lasting wounds of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Some graves may remain nameless forever, with the families left to wait.

For most of the war, there was nowhere to bury the unidentified dead. The bodies lay in refrigerated storage while the national military cemetery was still being built. Even before the cemetery was completed in January, the first group of the unknown soldiers were laid to rest in August. More than 300 now lie beneath numbered crosses, with more graves being dug.

US President Donald Trump’s pledge to give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air-defence systems could mark a major breakthrough for Kyiv, but experts and Ukrainian officials warn that turning the idea into real weapons would likely take years.

Speaking last week alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump said the United States would allow Ukraine to make the US-designed systems that Kyiv has long sought to shield its cities and infrastructure from Russian missiles and drones.

“We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said. “I think they can produce them pretty quickly.”

But the statement left open a crucial question: What exactly would Ukraine be allowed to produce?

The mood regarding the war in Ukraine has changed in recent months. Ukrainian drones have struck Russian oil infrastructure, causing fuel shortages across Russia. And the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is exuberant about finishing the war from a “position of strength”.

The hope is that an economic crisis in Russia leads to social unrest and political instability, possibly resulting in the collapse of the ruling regime. This would not be an unprecedented event in Russian history. The Soviet Union rapidly unravelled amid economic and political crisis in 1991.

But how likely is this scenario for Russia today? Alexander Titov writes:

Britain has successfully tested new long-range strike weapons, with the government aiming to deliver them to Ukraine within months to bolster its defence capabilities.

The initiative, known as “Project Brakestop,” seeks to produce munitions more quickly and affordably than current systems like Storm Shadow missiles, with specifications including a 500km range, 225kg warhead, and speeds over 600km per hour.

Initial trials took place at a range in the Hebrides, involving three remaining suppliers – MBDA UK, MGI Engineering, and Rotron Aerospace – after a competitive development process that saw 27 industry bids.

Russian forces struck an international cargo vessel in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa, killing at least five crew members, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

The Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship had left port loaded with corn and was carrying a crew of 17 sailors from India and Syria, in addition to one Ukrainian, said Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi.

Eight crew members were rescued from the vessel — which was still burning late ⁠on Sunday — and five remain missing, he added.

A Reuters witness in Odesa saw smoke billowing from a large vessel off the coast. Moscow has not publicly commented on Sunday’s strike. Russia has stepped up attacks in recent weeks on deepwater ports in southern Ukraine that handle much of the country’s grain and other critical cargo in the fifth year of war.

“A civilian ship. An international crew. A route serving global food security. Putin saw another target,” acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“This attack leaves no room for illusions. ‌Putin’s Russia does not care whom it ​kills.”

On Saturday, one person was killed when Russia attacked port infrastructure in Odesa, hitting a vessel under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. A day earlier, three people were ‌killed in Russian ​strikes on Odesa and ‌Mykolaiv.

Protesters gathered in downtown Kyiv earlier this week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky moved to dismiss his defence minister, as parliament convened to appoint a new prime minister as part of a major government reshuffle.

The shake-up could become a test of Zelensky’s political authority as Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches four and a half years.

Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, is considered to be a moderniser whose technological expertise is credited in part with a significant improvement in Ukraine’s military performance in recent months against Russia’s bigger army. He was expected to leave the government after just six months in the post.

You can read more about the protests below:

Russia hit Kyiv with an overnight onslaught involving 41 different types of missiles in the early hours of Sunday morning, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Residential buildings, warehouses, a supermarket and a dormitory were among the structures damaged, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, adding that three people were ⁠in a serious condition.

At one location in western Kyiv, emergency workers picked through smouldering debris ⁠and doused bombed-out apartments.

Closer to the city centre, the strikes damaged a frequently targeted metro ‌station and destroyed an underground pedestrian passage nearby, leaving a pile of ‌rubble.

Residents in Kyiv have spoken of their determination and fear after Russia launched an overnight onslaught of strikes on the capital.

A resident who identified himself as Vlad told Reuters he had been inside his ​apartment when ⁠a blast tore off his balcony door, which ‌smashed him in the head.

“My grandmother lives with me, and she can’t walk. How could I run away and leave her behind?” he said.

Others continued ordinary life with quiet resilience. Later on Sunday, ⁠workers cleared rubble from around the damaged Kyiv metro station and caved-in underpass as passersby looked on, ⁠seemingly unfazed.

Fruit vendors resumed business as usual in their makeshift stalls as an excavator poured debris into a dump truck in the background.

“Kyiv will ‌flourish,” said Iryna Lomeyko, 68, ​hinting at the stubborn normality of a neighbourhood that has ‌been heavily damaged by repeated Russian strikes.

“Those idiots destroy ​everything, but we’ll repair it and build anew,” she added. “Everything will be alright.”