TRANSCRIPT
Ukraine has launched over 30 drones towards Moscow, which Russian authorities say have left at least five people injured.
The attack, which was the biggest against the Russian capital since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, has caused issues at several of Moscow's main airports.
Flights heading towards the Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky airports had to be redirected, while other departures were delayed.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his forces will continue to escalate their efforts.
"This year, we managed to achieve significant results in several areas. This includes our Ukrainian artillery – our shells, our cannons. It also includes drones – of different types, for different tasks – types that not only help defend the frontline positions and destroy the occupier, but also strike deeper and deeper into Russia. We will scale this up. We surpassed the milestone of the first 100 units of missile armaments this year. I will not go into details here, but I would like to thank everyone who is involved in this production of ours, who organises the relevant processes."
The Russian defence ministry says it successfully took out another 50 drones that were aimed at targets in the nation's west.
It comes following Russia's own drone attack in the city of Odesa on southern Ukraine that left at least two people injured.
The attack caused massive damage to local infrastructure, leaving residential buildings uninhabitable, in the latest strike by the Russian forces in the region.
One of the local residents named Pedro describes the scenes.
“How was it? It was scary. I heard the sound of it (the drone). Then the sound faded and then it hit this house. I was thrown to the ground with a blast wave. It was all in a mere second.”
Mayor of Odesa, Hennadi Turkhanov, says it was fortunate there were no victims left behind by the attacks.
"For the fourth night in a row the enemy targets our city. There were several drones. You all know and see what's going on today. Luckily, there are no victims, but there are injured people. There are many damaged residences and apartments. Private houses were destroyed, people have to be on the street now."
Meanwhile, the EU's Foreign Policy chief visited Ukraine, following the result of the U-S elections.
The EU's High Representative on Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell says there was clear intent behind his visit to Kyiv.
“The clear purpose of this visit is to stress European Union’s support to Ukraine. This support remains unwavering. This support is absolutely needed for you to continue defending yourself against Russia's aggression.”
There have been growing concerns in Kyiv about a potential shift in the position of the US regarding the war, due to Republican leader Donald Trump's close relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Mr Trump has reportedly spoken with the Russian president and asked him to not escalate the situation in Ukraine any further, in a first step towards delivering his pre-election pledge of ending the conflict.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says his nation remains cautiously optimistic that Mr Trump's win will have positive effects for the situation in the country.
“The elections in the U.S. took place. The elections that have global consequences. Undoubtedly, Ukraine hopes for (U.S.) leadership, hopes for further leadership in achieving just peace. It is obvious that global changes of such character are also a hope and a chance to speed up the achievement of just peace for Ukraine.”
A British military chief has revealed the large toll the Russian forces are paying for the nation's operations in Ukraine.
Speaking to the BBC, British Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin has said that the number of casualties suffered by Russia in October was beyond belief.
"Russia is paying an extraordinary price for Putin's illegal invasion. So October was the worst casualty figures for Russia so far. On average, over 1500 people either killed or wounded every single day, every day, every single day. And that is for tiny increments of land."
