‘No one is left’: 19 killed in Russian missile strikes – as Ukraine ‘nearly ready’ to launch counteroffensive
Ukraine is “to a high percentage ready” to launch its counteroffensive against Russia, according to the country’s defence minister.
“As soon as there is God’s will, the weather and a decision by commanders, we will do it,” Oleksii Reznikov said on Friday.
The Ukrainian minister said Western tanks and weapons would act as an “iron fist” in Ukraine’s bid to take back its occupied territory.
His comments come as 19 people were killed in a round of Russian airstrikes – the first large-scale group of strikes in nearly two months.
Officials said 17 people were killed in the central Ukrainian city of Uman from a round of Russian missile and drone strikes.
A further two people were killed in Dnipro, a city in the southern central area, along the banks of the Dnipro River.
Rescuers work at the site of the missile strike
Firefighters at the scene of the missile strike in Uman
The capital Kyiv was also rocked by explosions in the early hours, as were the central cities of Kremenchuk and Poltava, and Mykolaiv in the south.
Two people were wounded in the town of Ukrainka – just south of Kyiv – officials said.
In Uman, firefighters battled a raging blaze at a residential apartment building that had been struck on an upper floor by a Russian missile.
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‘A missile hit our flat!’
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Officials said at least 15 people were killed there, including three children – two 10-year-olds and a toddler – while a further nine people were taken to hospital.
One resident, Serhii Lubivskyi, 58, was in the block of flats when the missile struck.
“My neighbours are gone, no one is left… only the kitchens were left standing,” he said.
“My flat is on the seventh floor… we felt the impact, we heard the explosion.”
An aerial view shows a damaged block of flats hit by a Russian missile
Another resident, Olga, said: “At first the windows were blown out, then came the explosion. Everything flew out.”
Moscow has frequently launched long-range missile attacks during the 14-month war, often indiscriminately hitting civilian areas.
However, the Kremlin has denied its military aims at civilian targets.
The Russian defence ministry said the long-range cruise missiles launched overnight were aimed at places where Ukrainian military reserve units were staying before their deployment to the battlefield.
It comes as Ukraine prepares to launch its much-talked-about counteroffensive to reclaim territory taken by Russia.
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The offensive will involve tanks and weapons from Western powers, including the US, the UK and Germany.
Britain has given Challenger 2 tanks, the US has sent Abrams, while German Leopard 2 tanks have also been handed over to Kyiv for use in the offensive.
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Russia, meanwhile, has been fortifying its occupied territory for months in anticipation of Kyiv’s planned assault – which is widely expected once warmer weather returns.
Ukraine and its Western military backers hope a push by thousands of Ukrainian troops trained at Western bases will shift the dynamics of the war – which has mostly seen Russia on the offensive throughout winter.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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