Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy vows retribution over deadly Russian bombardments

"Ukraine will not allow any of the aggressor's strikes that take the lives of our people to go unpunished, the president said after meeting top military and intelligence officials to discuss retaliatory long-range strikes. Zelenskyy said later in his nightly video address that retaliatory actions had already been approved, and pointed to an overnight attack on an oil refinery that the military said triggered a large fire in the central Russian city of Ryazan."

"The strike on Ryazan's huge oil refinery was part of a large-scale Ukrainian long-range drone attack targeting several regions in Russia after Moscow's forces pounded Ukraine with three days of massive strikes with missiles and drones. The scale of the attacks appeared to put paid to claims of Donald Trump that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine was close, after recent remarks by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, that the war might be approaching an end."

"Trump told reporters that the strikes on Kyiv launched hours after a three-day US-brokered ceasefire expired could disrupt efforts to find a diplomatic resolution to the war. A Russian court has ordered Belgian financial group Euroclear to pay about $250bn in damages over the freezing of billions of dollars' worth of Russian assets in the EU since the Ukraine war. It was not clear how Russia intended to recover the funds, and Euroclear said it did not recognise the Russian court's jurisdiction."

"The Moscow court said it upheld the Russian central bank's claim, while Euroclear told Agence France-Presse the bank's claims were without merit. Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, doubling the number of oil refineries targeted since the start of the year, according to information posted on social"

A Russian missile strike hit a Kyiv apartment building, killing 24 people including three children. After laying red roses at the rubble, the president said Ukraine would not allow attacks that kill Ukrainians to go unpunished and met top military and intelligence officials to discuss retaliation. Retaliatory actions were approved, with an overnight attack on an oil refinery in Ryazan reported to have triggered a large fire. The refinery strike was part of a large-scale Ukrainian long-range drone campaign targeting multiple Russian regions following three days of major Russian missile and drone strikes. The scale of attacks contrasted with claims of an approaching peace deal. A Russian court ordered Euroclear to pay about $250bn in damages over frozen Russian assets, which Euroclear disputed. Ukraine also increased drone attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, doubling oil refinery targets since the start of the year.

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