Russian airport reopens after drone attack; Moscow’s forces ‘execute five PoWs’

Russian forces executed five Ukrainian prisoners of war, said Ukraine’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, on Sunday.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday its air defence systems destroyed 42 Ukrainian drones over five Russian regions during the night.

Airports reopen after Ukrainian drone attack on Russian city

The airport in the Russian city of Kazan reopened on Saturday after temporarily closing earlier in the day following a Ukrainian drone attack, said Russia’s aviation watchdog.

Russian state news agencies reported the drone attack on a residential complex and other areas in Kazan, some 800km east of Moscow.

The Defence Ministry said the city had been attacked by three waves of drones. It said three drones were destroyed by air defence systems and three others by electronic warfare systems.

There were no casualties reported, said agencies, citing local authorities. The mayor of Kazan said on Telegram that all planned mass events in the city would be cancelled over the weekend and that authorities would offer temporary accommodation to evacuees.

The Baza Telegram channel, which is close to Russia’s security services, published unverified video footage showing an aerial object crashing into a high-rise building, producing a large fireball.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the attack, saying Ukraine was “taking out its impotent anger for real military defeats on the peaceful population of Russia”.

Airports in Izhevsk, a smaller city northeast of Kazan, and Saratov, some 650km south of Kazan, had also temporarily halted flight arrivals and departures, Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said via Telegram.

Restrictions at the airports were later lifted, said Rosaviatsia.

Russian forces executed five POWs, says Ukraine

Russian forces executed five Ukrainian prisoners of war, said Ukraine’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, on Sunday.

Lubinets said on the Telegram messenger app that Russian troops shot the five unarmed soldiers after capturing them. He gave no details, but will report this fact to the UN.

“Russian war criminals who shoot Ukrainian prisoners of war should be brought before an international tribunal and punished with the most severe punishment provided for by law,” said Lubinets.

Russia downs 42 Ukrainian drones overnight

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday its air defence systems destroyed 42 Ukrainian drones over five Russian regions during the night.

Twenty drones were shot down over the Oryol region, eight drones each were destroyed in the Rostov and Bryansk regions, five in the Kursk region and one over Krasnodar Krai, said the ministry in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

One attack triggered a fire at a fuel infrastructure facility in the village of Stalnoi Kon, said Andrei Klychkov, the governor of Oryol.

“Fortunately, thanks to the quick response, the consequences of the attack were avoided — the fire was promptly localised and is now fully extinguished. There were no casualties or significant damage,” he said.

It was the second week in a row that fuel infrastructure facilities in Oryol have been attacked.

The heads of the Rostov and Bryansk regions said there were no casualties or damage after the latest drone attacks.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

Ukraine’s air defence downs 52 out of 103 Russian drones

Ukraine’s air defences downed 52 of the 103 Russian drones launched overnight, said the Ukrainian military on Sunday.

The military said on Telegram that it had lost track of 44 drones, and another had left the territory of Ukraine for Belarus.

The military gave no information on the fate of the remaining drones.

However, they said that in Kherson, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zhytomyr and Kyiv regions, private businesses and apartment buildings had been damaged by the Russian attack.

“Tentatively, without casualties,” added the military.

Local authorities said that debris from one of the downed drones fell on the roof of a multistorey building in the Kyiv region, causing a fire.

Ukraine’s membership of Nato is ‘achievable’, says Zelensky

Ukraine's membership of Nato was “achievable”, but Kyiv would have to fight to persuade allies to make it happen, President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainian diplomats in a speech on Sunday.

Ukraine has repeatedly urged Nato to invite Kyiv to become a member. The Western military alliance has said Ukraine will join its ranks one day, but has not set a date or issued an invitation.

Moscow has cited the prospect of Ukraine joining Nato as one of the principal justifications for its 2022 invasion. Kyiv says membership in the Western alliance’s mutual defence pact, or an equivalent form of security guarantee, would be crucial to any peace plan to ensure that Russia does not attack again.

“We all understand that Ukraine’s invitation to Nato and membership in the alliance can only be a political decision,” Zelensky told diplomats at a gathering in Kyiv. “Alliance for Ukraine is achievable, but it is achievable only if we fight for this decision at all the necessary levels.”

Zelensky said allies needed to know what Ukraine could bring to Nato and how its membership in the alliance would stabilise global relations.

Last week, Zelensky urged European countries to provide guarantees to protect Ukraine after the war with Russia ends and said Ukraine would ultimately need more protection through membership of the alliance. DM