Ukraine Suffers New Strikes As EU Presses Russia For Ceasefire (Worthy News Radio)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – At least 10 people, including four children, were injured in a Russian strike on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian authorities said Friday. In southern Ukraine, the State Emergency Service reported that one person was killed and four others were injured in a separate Russian attack on the Odesa region.

Emergency crews and firefighters worked to extinguish large fires in Kharkiv, where several residential areas were reportedly affected. Images released by Ukrainian authorities showed rescuers assisting survivors.

The attacks came a day after Ukraine launched one of its largest drone operations against Russia since the start of the war. Russian officials said the strikes targeted an oil refinery and other sites around Moscow, leaving at least one person dead and several others injured.

According to Russian authorities, hundreds of Ukrainian drones were intercepted across the country. The attacks also disrupted air traffic around the Russian capital and formed part of Kyiv’s broader campaign against Russian military and energy infrastructure.

ZELENSKYY SEEKS PRESSURE

Speaking on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hopes increasing pressure on Russia will eventually encourage negotiations aimed at ending Europe’s largest land war since World War II.

Despite continued fighting, Zelenskyy expressed cautious optimism that the war could end before winter if Ukraine receives additional military assistance from its Western allies.

However, he acknowledged that Ukraine would require another substantial military package, including hundreds of rockets.

Separately in Brussels, leaders of the European Union reaffirmed their backing for Ukraine.

Among those supporting a joint statement was Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, whose position marks a notable departure from the more Russia-friendly approach associated with former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

EUROPEAN SUPPORT

European leaders accused Russia of “intensifying missile and drone attacks” against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure after failing to achieve key military objectives.

They urged Moscow to agree to a “full, unconditional and immediate ceasefire” and to engage in “meaningful negotiations” to secure a just and lasting peace.

The European Union also pledged to maintain pressure on Russia and continue efforts to weaken what it described as Russia’s war economy.

Yet Moscow also appeared eager to demonstrate it retains leverage beyond the battlefield.

A citizen of EU member state Romania, identified by Russian authorities as David-Adrian Kercho, was sentenced to 15 years in a maximum-security penal colony after being convicted of spying for Ukraine.

Russia’s FSB security service said Kercho helped Ukrainian intelligence identify sensitive air-defense positions near the southern Russian city of Sochi in 2024.

ESPIONAGE CASES

The FSB released video footage of his arrest, which appeared to have taken place in a public park.

Soon afterward, French authorities announced the detention and charging of a Belarus-born man suspected of spying for Russia on a French drone manufacturer supplying equipment to both French and Ukrainian armed forces.

The developments highlighted growing espionage concerns surrounding the war as both Russia and Western nations accuse each other of intelligence operations linked to the conflict.

With fighting continuing and spy allegations mounting on both sides, it remains unclear whether new peace talks can gain momentum anytime soon in a war now entering its fifth year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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