Ukraine marks Independence Day with strikes on Russia

Ukraine launched a wave of drone strikes on Russia on Sunday, triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant as it celebrated Ukrainian Independence Day against a backdrop of fading hopes for recent peace efforts. The latest fighting came as Ukraine marked the anniversary of gaining independence in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet […]

Ukraine launched a wave of drone strikes on Russia on Sunday, triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant as it celebrated Ukrainian Independence Day against a backdrop of fading hopes for recent peace efforts.

The latest fighting came as Ukraine marked the anniversary of gaining independence in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

After a flurry of diplomacy and a push by US President Donald Trump to broker a summit between his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, the prospects for peace appeared to stall on Friday when Russia ruled out any immediate meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine hit back Sunday by sending drones on fresh attacks on Russian territory, including one that was shot down over the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in western Russia, which detonated upon impact and sparked a fire, according to the facility. Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones had also been shot down over areas sometimes far from the front, including Saint Petersburg in the northwest.

Ten drones were shot down over the port of Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland, sparking a fire at a fuel terminal owned by Russian energy group Novatek, regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko wrote on Telegram.

“This is how Ukraine strikes when its calls for peace are ignored. Today, both the US and Europe agree: Ukraine has not yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose. Ukraine has secured its independence. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter,” Zelensky said in an Independence Day address. Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia had attacked it overnight with a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, 48 of which the air force said had been shot down.

Russia now controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

The fighting has forced millions of people to flee their homes and destroyed cities and villages across the east and south of Ukraine.