At least three killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine while Zelenskyy is in Canada for talks
Ukraine's Special Operations Forces said they had carried out their deepest strike inside Russia, with drones travelling 3,000 km to target two gas condensate plants, the Novy Urengoy and Purovsky plants, located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, one of Russia's key oil and gas regions.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Canada for talks with leader Mark Carney, Russia and Ukraine continue to exchange fire.
At least three people were killed in Russian overnight attacks. Ukraine's Armed Forces reported that Moscow attacked Ukraine with 149 drones overnight from Wednesday into Thursday, 128 of which were intercepted. The statement added that they had been launched from Russian cities including Kursk, Millerovo and from the temporarily occupied region of Donetsk and Hvardiiske in Crimea, striking 13 locations.
A late Russian attack on a shopping center car park in Sumy killed at least three people and injured 14 including a teenager, on Wednesday, Oleh Hryhorov, Head of Sumy Oblast Military Administration said on Telegram.
Attacks on the eastern city of Kharkiv have left at least two people injured, after a residential buildings were damaged by drones, according to the city's mayor Ihor Terekhov.
Another large scale attack hitting residential building in the central city of Kryvyi Rih left two people in critical condition, its Head of Kryvyi Rih Defence Council, Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram.
Four firefighters have been hospitalised after responding to a blaze on a market in the Western city of Khmelnytskyi, sparked by fallen debris from a Russian drone attack. The firefighters were injured in a secondary explosion, officials reported.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces said that they had managed their deepest strike inside Russia, as their drones travelled 3,000 km to strike two gas condensate plants, the Novy Urengoy and Purovsky, located in one of Russia's key oil and gas regions; the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug region.
Ukrainian media reported that Russian Telegram media channels had said Ukraine launched a drone attack on the Republic of Dagestan.
The southern coastal city of Sochi also reportedly came under attack by Ukrainian uncrewed surface vessels sparking multiple fires, according to Russian authorities. Russian media said residents also reported explosions on the port Caspian sea city of Makhachkala, it is known for its handling of dry and liquid cargo, residents also reported a lack of air raid warnings.
Zelenskyy travels to Canada
As Russia and Ukraine trade fire, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Canada on Wednesday to hold talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he hopes to build a closer relationship with his allies.
According to a statement by Carney, Zelenskyy's visit "will focus on shared priorities between Canada and Ukraine, including deepening defence, economic, and energy cooperation."
Carney added:"It will also address the human cost of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and build on the strong people-to-people ties that connect our countries," and that Canada "remains steadfast in our commitment to support Ukraine's defence, recovery, and reconstruction."
Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, are scheduled to stay in Canada until Friday, with events in Calgary, Toronto and North Bay on the agenda, as well as a meeting with Cabinet members in Banff, Alberta.
Zelenskyy's plane 'almost hit' by drone en route to Oslo, Norway PM says
Zelenskyy travelled from Moldova to Oslo to attend the funeral of Norway's King Harald V.
A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Moldova to Oslo was nearly hit by a drone, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said on Wednesday.
"His flight was almost hit by a drone when it was taking off from Moldova. That is the reality he lives in," Store told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
The Norwegian Prime Minister did not provide further details about the incident.
"I asked him how his night had been, and he said it had not been a good night because he had been on the phone receiving updates about where the missiles had struck," Store told NRK.
"It is a very dramatic situation. It makes a strong impression."
Zelenskyy arrived in Oslo on Tuesday evening ahead of the funeral of Norway's King Harald V. He held talks with Store, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Norwegian military assistance to Ukraine, including air defence support, as well as civilian aid.
Zelenskyy left Norway following the funeral and travelled to Canada for talks with leaders there, Store told NRK.
Store did not provide further details about the outcome of the talks.
"We're not there yet. Industry is working together to see whether it is possible to provide air defence systems for Ukraine, but also to find an industrial solution that would allow them to build air defence systems themselves. To put it simply, they have holes in the roof."
Timeline: How a Russian drone nearly hit Zelenskyy's plane in Moldova
Russia’s latest drone incursion into Moldova and NATO airspace comes as Moscow increasingly deploys jet-powered attack drones, blurring the line between traditional UAVs and low-cost cruise missiles and making them much harder to intercept.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane was preparing to leave Chișinău for Oslo on Tuesday afternoon when Moldova’s military detected an unmanned aerial vehicle in the country’s airspace.
What initially appeared to be another Russian drone incursion took on greater significance the following day, when Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre revealed that Zelenskyy’s plane had almost been hit by a drone.
“His flight was almost hit by a drone when it was taking off from Moldova. That is the reality he lives in,” Støre told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
The timeline shows how the events unfolded.
Moldovan military first detected an unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle at 4:20 pm EEST (3:20 CEST).
Moldovan officials confirmed to Euronews that the country’s airspace was closed shortly after 4:30 pm.
“The airspace was closed to protect the aircraft flying over Moldova at the time - three departures and four arrivals were delayed as a result.”
By 4:37 pm, Romania’s Defence Ministry said the drone crossed into Romanian — and therefore NATO — airspace.
Two minutes later two Spanish F-18 fighter jets deployed as part of NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission took off to monitor it.
The jets did not intercept the drone. Romanian radar continued to track it until 5:02 pm, when contact was lost.
Five minutes later at 5:07 pm the drone was detected again over Moldova, where it later crashed about 25 km east of the Romanian border.
According to Moldovan officials, the flight restrictions were lifted after 5:20 pm, when authorities confirmed the drone had come down and exploded near Mihăilenii Vechi, in the Râșcani district, about 160 km from Chișinău International Airport.
“For the same reason, the plane of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took off from Chișinău International Airport later than scheduled," officials said.
According to monitoring channels, Zelenskyy’s plane took off from Chișinău around 5:57 pm.
For much of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine that began in early 2022, Zelenskyy has travelled abroad primarily through Poland, with Rzeszów serving as a regular departure point.
In recent months, however, his presidential aircraft has also begun using Chișinău more frequently for foreign trips.
What type of drone was it?
The exact model of the drone involved in Moldova and Romania has not been officially established.
Ukrainian open-source monitoring channels identified it as a Geran-4, one of Russia’s newer jet-powered attack drones.
The Geran-4 and Geran-5 are among the newest additions to Russia’s expanding Geran family, although they differ significantly in design and capabilities.
The Geran-4 has a wingspan of about three metres and is roughly 3.5 metres long. Its maximum take-off weight is around 450 kilograms.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, the Geran-4 can reach speeds of up to 500 km/h and carry a warhead weighing between 50 and 90 kilograms.
Russia has recently stepped up its use of jet-powered drones, including in complex barrages alongside ballistic and cruise missiles designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
Their speed makes them much harder to intercept than conventional Shahed-type drones, particularly for the mobile fire groups and other relatively inexpensive systems Ukraine has relied on to counter slower-moving UAVs.
Ukraine is instead forced to use scarce and considerably more expensive air-defence missiles against the faster threats, putting additional pressure on already limited interceptor stocks.
Several Ukrainian companies have reportedly begun testing missiles specifically designed to shoot down the new jet-powered Geran models.
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