Ukraine-Russia latest: US pledges $500m in weapons and ammunition for Kyiv to fight Putin’s forces
Nearly £3.25bn in US funds earmarked by the Joe Biden administration for Ukraine may not be delivered before Donal Trump returns to the White House
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Your support makes all the difference.The US will send half a billion dollars in military aid to Ukraine ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the country’s top diplomat has announced.
Speaking during the 25th and possibly final meeting of Ukraine’s western backers at the Ramstein air base in Germany, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington would supply one more trove of military support.
The $500m (£406m) package includes air defence missiles, air-to-ground munitions and support equipment for F-16 fighter jets. The US has sent roughly £50 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.
The announcement, however, suggests that the remaining $3.8bn of the funds set aside for Ukraine by the Joe Biden administration will remain unused ahead of Mr Trump’s return, despite previous commitments to use all the money.
Meanwhile, Russia launched dozens of glide bombs across Ukraine over the last 24 hours, Ukraine’s military reported in its latest update, as the casualty toll from an attack on civilian-populated Zaporizhzhia reached 126.
The Ukrainian general staff said Russia had launched 62 glide bomb attacks on Wednesday. The munitions, nicknamed “building-destroyers”, can carry warheads weighing up to 3 tonnes and blow holes deeper than bomb shelters.
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Russian drones cross into Belarusian airspace
Four Russian drones fired at Ukraine have misfired into Belarusian airspace, a monitor has reported.
The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine
As Ukraine reports that Russia has fired dozens of glide bombs over the last 24 hours, some of which killed 13 and wounded 113 more in one attack in southeastern Zaporizhzhia, below is an explainer on what these munitions are.
The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine
Winged explosives weighing up to 1,500 kilograms – and nicknamed the ‘building destroyer’ – have had a devastating impact wherever they have been used, writes Tom Watling. Kyiv is battling them as best it can but needs Western allies to step up and provide more weapons, air defences and ammunition
Russian firefighters were on Thursday still battling a fire reported to have broken out at an oil depot near an air base for strategic bombers in the Volga region, more than 24 hours after a Ukrainian drone attack.
“It takes a certain amount of time to complete the burnout process. The situation is under control,” regional governor Roman Busargin said in a Telegram post.
A state of emergency was in effect in Engels, a city of 200,000 people some 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, after the blaze spread and two firefighters died trying to put it out.
Busargin said the fire had broken out at an industrial site, which he did not name, after a mass drone attack. The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that it had set fire to an oil depot that serves an air base for Russian nuclear-capable bombers.
Engels is hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine. In December 2022, three Russian air force personnel were killed when a drone was shot down there.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains?
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk
North Korea benefiting from troops fighting in Russia, US says
North Korea benefiting from troops fighting alongside Russia, US warns
Pyongyang’s military ties with Russia ‘rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbours’
A Russian guided bomb attack on Wednesday killed at least 13 people and injured 113 in Ukraine‘s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, authorities said.
The blast left bodies strewn across a road alongside injured residents. Public transport was also damaged in the strike.
Prosecutors increased the injury toll from 63 to 113 people on Thursday morning. Rescue work had been completed at the site of the attack the evening before.
High-rise apartment blocks were damaged along with an industrial facility and other infrastructure, Ukraine‘s prosecutor general office said on Telegram. The debris hit a tram and a bus with passengers inside, it added.
Russian troops had used two guided bombs to hit a residential area, the regional governor Ivan Fedorov told reporters.
Ten of the 60 people in the hospital after the attack remain in serious condition, Fedorov said, adding that Thursday would be an official day of mourning.
Ukraine's military says it shot down 46 drones launched by Russia overnight
The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that Russia launched a total of 70 drones at the country overnight.
Of those drones, Ukraine‘s air force shot down 46, while 24 “imitator drones” did not reach their targets, the air force added.
The attack damaged private residences in three Ukrainian regions.
Photos: Zelensky meets Finnish minister in Kyiv
Ukraine still fighting for eastern town despite Russian claims of a takeover
Ukraine has denied Russian claims that they have captured a key town in the eastern Donetsk region, but admitted that the situation looks desperate.
Russia claimed control of the eastern town of Kurakhove on Monday, after months of heavy fighting. The town has been decimated by continuous Russian shelling.
A Ukrainian military spokesperson, however, said on Monday that fighting is ongoing in the western outskirts of the town.
“Currently, the situation in Kurakhove is indeed quite difficult, because a significant part of the city has been destroyed,” spokesperson Viktor Tregubov said.
Tom Watling reports:
Ukraine still fighting for eastern town despite Russian claims of a takeover
Ukraine says the eastern town of Kurakhove remains partially in their control despite heavy Russian bombing
North Korea benefiting from troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, US says
North Korea is “significantly benefiting” from its troops gaining battlefield experience fighting alongside Russian forces as it makes them more capable of waging war against rivals South Korea and Japan, a US official warned the UN.
Nearly 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been training in Russia and fighting to repel the Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk region, deputy US ambassador Dorothy Camille Shea told the UN Security Council, which was meeting to discuss Pyongyang’s launch of a new intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile on Monday.
North Korea benefiting from troops fighting alongside Russia, US warns
Pyongyang’s military ties with Russia ‘rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbours’
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