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At least 11 people have been killed – including children – and 61 injured after a Russian missile struck a pizza restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.

A second missile hit a village on the fringes of the city, injuring five people.

“Russia doesn’t hit civilians only military targets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told Sky News, while Russian state TV explained the missile attacks, saying they were aimed at “NATO instructors” and that “the objective was achieved”. It presented no evidence to justify that claim.

WARNING: This story contains distressing content

“I ran here after the explosion because I rented a cafe here… Everything has been blown out there,” a woman in Kramatorsk told Reuters news agency.

“None of the glass, windows or doors are left. All I see is destruction, fear and horror.”

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Putin was stopped from ‘wiping out’ Wagner boss

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Department of Education of the Kramatorsk City Council tribute to two sisters Yuliya and Anna who died after the  missile  attack in Kramatorsk
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Kramatorsk’s education department paid tribute to sisters Yuliya and Anna Aksenchenko, aged 14, who died in the missile attack

Officials said three girls – two sisters aged 14, and a 17-year-old – were among those killed in the explosion.

The city’s mayor, Oleksandr Goncharenko, said the body of a boy was pulled from the rubble on Wednesday morning. He did not give the child’s age.

“It is with sadness and unbearable pain that we report the death of two Aksenchenko sisters, Yuliya and Anna, students of Kramatorsk Primary School No. 24,” the city’s education department said in a statement.

“This year they graduated from the eighth grade, and on 4 September they should have celebrated their 15th anniversary, a Russian rocket stopped the beating of the hearts of two angels.”

The Russian missile strike in central Kramatorsk. Pic: Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko via Reuters
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The Russian missile strike in central Kramatorsk. Pic: Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko via Reuters

People react at the site of a restaurant building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine June 27, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
Police and rescue workers   walk in front of a restaurant RIA Pizza destroyed by a Russian attack in Kramatorsk, Ukraine
Pic:National Police of Ukraine/AP
Image:
Pic: National Police of Ukraine via AP

Images showed the building reduced to a twisted web of metal beams with rescue teams searching the area for survivors.

The missile strike occurred on Tuesday evening in a busy shopping area – and the pizza restaurant was reported to be popular with journalists.

A freelance journalist said he was in the RIA pizza restaurant 10 minutes before it was hit.

Arnaud De Decker said that an hour after the explosions, he could still hear “people screaming underneath the rubble”.

He shared a photo of his meal on social media about 20 minutes before the attack took place.

‘Eight-month-old baby injured in explosion’

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said emergency services were trying to establish the total number of casualties.

“This is the city centre. These were public eating places crowded with civilians,” he told Ukrainian television.

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska also condemned the attack.

“Crowded place, evening – enemy do not want normal life in Ukraine,” she wrote on Twitter.

“There are a lot of wounded. It is painful.”

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Children injured in deadly attack on Kramatorsk

Ukraine’s defence ministry shared footage showing the extensive damage to local buildings and a distressed mother looking for her missing daughter, who she said worked in the restaurant that was hit.

In a statement it said: “Russia is still targeting civilians in Ukraine.”

It said children were among the dead, and an infant was injured in the blast.

Rescues and volunteers carry a woman rescued from the debris at the site of hotel and restaurant buildings heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kramatorsk, Donetsk
Rescues and volunteers wort at a site of hotel and restaurant buildings heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine June 27, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
People clear the rubble on the roof of the restaurant. Pic: National Police of Ukraine via AP
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Pic: National Police of Ukraine via AP

Russian missile ‘designed to bring down a plane’ hit pizzeria

Sky News’ international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn said the restaurant was popular with locals and well known to foreign journalists who would often stop there on their way to the frontline.

He said an eight-month-old baby is one of the dozens injured.

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Victim of Russian missile attack speaks

“For some reason, someone in the Russian military thought it would be a good idea to fire an S-300, a surface-to-air missile,” Waghorn said.

“That’s a missile that’s seven metres long, packed with explosives, normally fired from the back of a truck and designed to bring down a plane.

“It’s a pretty accurate bit of ammunition. So they probably knew exactly what they were firing at and unless there was a military justification for attacking a pizza restaurant, which almost certainly there wasn’t, this is an alleged war crime.”

Read more:
Dramatic footage of Wagner march show how events unfolded
Ukraine has recaptured territory held by Russia since 2014

‘Where everybody ate. Where they came to feel normal’

By Katy Scholes, Sky News producer

My Ukrainian colleague sent me a picture on WhatApp, a blown-out building both familiar and unrecognisable. The doors we walked through just weeks earlier had been ripped from their hinges; the windows now great big holes laden with the ordinary things you usually find inside a restaurant.

In a video I saw later, a dusty credit card machine rested on a windowsill and reminded me of the young, smiling staff we got to know.

Pizza RIA wasn’t the only restaurant open in Kramatorsk but it was considered the best one. It had the highest reviews on Google so people flocked there – locals, journalists, and off-duty soldiers.

Back in the early days of the invasion, almost everything in Kramatorsk was closed and most people had left. The city was under direct fire and direct threat.

After the Kharkiv counteroffensive pushed the Russians back out of artillery range from the city, in time, things started to re-open. People came back.

There’s pleasure in watching life returning to a place. That’s what we saw and felt when we worked from Kramatorsk six weeks or so ago, the last time we visited Pizza RIA.

There was a birthday party that day. Women tottered past us in their highest heels and most glamorous dresses clutching silvery gifts. Some held the hands of children as they went by. A kids’ entertainer dressed as a giant teddy bear bumped about with a stitched scar on his forehead – like everyone else in this place, he’d been in the wars.

Kramatorsk is now about 30km from the nearest fighting but the sound of shells is never far. This was a place where people came to feel normal. Pizza RIA was not a military target.

This is a grim reminder that for civilians living near the frontline, there is no escape from the war.

Russia denies targeting civilians

Asked about the attack in Kramatorsk, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said: “We condemn Russia’s brutal strikes against the people of Ukraine, which have caused widespread death and destruction and taken the lives of so many Ukrainian civilians.”

“Strikes are carried out on objects that are connected with military infrastructure in one way or another,” Mr Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

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Russia confirms Kramatorsk strike

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since invading Ukraine on 24 February last year.

The Russian strikes are among the first since an aborted mutiny at the weekend.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he let the armed march on Moscow by the Wagner mercenaries go on as long as it did to avoid bloodshed, while the group’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin who led the uprising has said he never intended to overthrow the government.

Russian authorities say they have closed a criminal investigation into the uprising and are pressing no armed rebellion charge against Prigozhin or his followers.

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What we learned from the latest release of Epstein files

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What we learned from the latest release of Epstein files

A trove of newly released Epstein files include emails that appear to involve Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, while another suggests Donald Trump travelled on the billionaire’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported”.

The US Department of Justice released at least 11,000 more files on Tuesday.

It went on to claim that some of them “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” about President Trump.

Here are some of the latest news lines from this release of Epstein files. Being named in these papers does not suggest wrongdoing.

Who is ‘The Invisible Man’?

Among the documents released is an email sent to Ghislaine Maxwell that speaks about “the girls” being “completely shattered” at a Royal Family summer camp at Balmoral.

It is dated 16 August 2001 and sent by a person referred to only as “The Invisible Man”, but whom Sky News is reporting appears to be the former prince, Andrew.

We have come to that conclusion from reviewing the email address used, which is assigned to the Duke of York in Epstein’s contacts book and the chain of correspondence.


Andrew pictured laying on women

In the correspondence, “The Invisible Man” asks Maxwell: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any allegations against him.


Watch: What’s in the largest batch of Epstein files?

The Peru trip

Another email appears to show Maxwell arranging “two-legged sight seeing” for “The Invisible Man” during a trip to Peru.

She appears to forward to “The Invisible Man” part of a conversation between herself and another person.

The email says: “I just gave Andrew your telephone no. He is interested in seeing the Nazca lines. He can ride but it is not his favorite sport ie pass on the horses.”

“Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy. I know I can rely on you to show him a wonderful time and will only introduce him to friends that you can trust,” Maxwell said.

The context of the email is unclear and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.


Epstein survivor speaks to Sky News after latest release of files

Trump on Epstein’s jet?

The latest bunch of files also includes an email from an unidentified prosecutor dated 7 January, 2020, in which President Trump is mentioned.

The email accuses him of travelling on Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported”.

It adds that President Trump “is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present”.

The email’s sender and receiver have been redacted. However, at the bottom of the email it says assistant US attorney, Southern District of New York. The name has also been redacted.

President Trump has denied any wrongdoing in relation to his relationship with Epstein, and being on any of Epstein’s flights does not indicate any wrongdoing.

Read more:
Trump defends ‘big boy’ Clinton after Epstein files release
Why Andrew photo in Epstein files is awkward for Royal Family

Limousine driver report about Trump

One of the documents in the release shows a report made to the FBI that was recorded on 27 October 2020.

It includes an unverified claim by a limousine driver that he overheard the US president discussing “abusing some girl” in 1995.

The driver also mentions Trump said “Jeffrey” while on the phone during a journey to Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas.

A significant part of the statement, along with the driver’s identity, has been redacted.

The US justice department has said that some of the documents in the latest Epstein files release “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election”.

“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” it said.

Postcard mentions ‘our president’

Also among the documents is a postcard that claims to have been sent by Jeffrey Epstein, but has been refuted by the justice department.

In it, the sender tells the recipient: “Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls.”

It’s not clear who “our president” refers to and the context of the postcard is also unclear.

The US justice department initially said it was “looking into the validity” of the postcard but later said on X that the “FBI has confirmed” the postcard is “FAKE”.

It cited reasons including a claim that the writing does not appear to match Epstein’s and another that the letter was postmarked three days after his death.

Row over unreleased documents

It is believed that many files relating to Epstein are yet to be made public.

There has been anger at the justice department’s slow release of the files, with politicians threatening to launch legal action against Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The deadline for the release of all the documents has passed.

“The DOJ needs to quit ⁠protecting the rich, powerful, and politically connected,” Republican congressman Thomas Massie said.

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‘No one is here to help us’: Palestinians watch as Israeli diggers tear down homes in East Jerusalem

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'No one is here to help us': Palestinians watch as Israeli diggers tear down homes in East Jerusalem

A balcony of onlookers stare as three diggers gnaw at the four-storey building that was a fixture of their daily view.

The roads of Silwan’s Wadi Qaddom neighbourhood are blocked off by Israeli police as residents watch the demolition in the valley from every vantage point. The block of flats was home to around 100 of their neighbours – many of them are now homeless.

An elderly woman sits at the bus stop near the police checkpoint closest to the demolition site. As she walks back down the hill, she looks back at the destruction. Her cheeks are red with anger when she hails that God is their only protection.

“Where are the Arab countries? No one is here to help us,” she exclaims.

Of the 230 buildings demolished in East Jerusalem’s Palestinian neighbourhoods in 2025, the block of roughly 13 flats is considered to be the largest and took 12 hours to completely demolish.

The demolition of a building in Silwan's Wadi Qaddom neighbourhood
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The demolition of a building in Silwan’s Wadi Qaddom neighbourhood

The building was without a permit, like many in Silwan, and stood on land that was not licensed for residential use. The residents were challenging long-standing demolition orders and applying for licensing when diggers arrived at dawn.

The Jerusalem Municipality said the demolition of the building in Silwan was based on a 2014 court order, and that residents were granted extensions for the execution of the order and were offered various options in order to find a solution, but they declined to do so.

But an architect and urban planner from the Israeli NGO Bimkom (Planners for Planning Rights) – which is supporting the families in their bid to license the land of the building – says their time to act was cut short.

Architect Sari Kornish speaks to Sky's Yousra Elbagir
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Architect Sari Kornish speaks to Sky’s Yousra Elbagir

“They were told that the demolition order would be implemented, and then they would get another six months’ recourse to try to continue with their planning. Six months is not enough for these planning processes. They take a long time,” Sari Kornish tells us in front of the Jerusalem Municipality after meeting with the building residents’ lawyer there.

Are permits granted for Palestinians in East Jerusalem?

“Very, very few, and in recent years, since October 7, less and less,” says Sari.

“It has always been discrimination. It has always been not enough.”

Far-right minister of national security Itamar Ben-Gvir posted on X about the building’s demolition.

He said: “Proud to lead the policy of demolishing illegal buildings – not only in the Negev, this morning in East Jerusalem (Silwan neighbourhood) a building that was built illegally and 100 people lived in it – was demolished! Strengthens the police and the district commander.”

Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank is illegal under international law.

Read more from Sky News:
Is Israel building a wall on Lebanese land?
Mother of last hostage in Gaza speaks to Sky News

Sky's Yousra Elbagir watches the demolition in Silwan
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Sky’s Yousra Elbagir watches the demolition in Silwan

On Sunday, Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that the security cabinet approved 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Half a million Israeli settlers currently live in the West Bank, and over 230,000 live in East Jerusalem, where some are taking over homes instead of seizing land.

At least 500 Palestinians have lost their homes to lack-of-permit demolitions in East Jerusalem, and at least 1,000 people, including 460 children, are at risk of forced displacement from eviction cases filed against them in Israeli courts by settler organisations.

Zuhair al Rajabbi looks out at the homes of his neighbours now marked by demolition sites
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Zuhair al Rajabbi looks out at the homes of his neighbours now marked by demolition sites

In the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Batn al Hawa in Silwan, Zuhair al Rajabbi looks out from his balcony at the homes of his neighbours.

The landscape is marked by demolition sites, and former homes of his neighbours are marked by Israeli flags. Settlers are busy renovating the rooftops to make their own.

“They have five children, and a grandmother was in one room. Downstairs, there was a family of seven children, with the wife and mother, in that one,” he says, pointing at the roof of his neighbours.

Israeli settler flags on a building in Silwan, a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem
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Israeli settler flags on a building in Silwan, a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem

As we watch, a woman quietly mops the dirty water into a hole in the fence and onto the roof of the house next door.

“Look, they are even putting the dirty water on our neighbour’s roof,” Zuhair says with a sad bitterness.

“We used to live together like we live here at home – eating and drinking with them. It makes me sad when I see their home disappearing.”

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Russia launches major deadly missile and drone attack on Ukraine

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Russia launches major deadly missile and drone attack on Ukraine

Russia launched a major overnight missile and drone attack on Ukraine that killed at least three people – including a four-year-old child.

Officials say Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles in an assault that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions across Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures.

It comes a day after he described recent progress towards a peace deal as “quite solid”.

The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Mr Zelenskyy said in an online post.

A damaged apartment building in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
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A damaged apartment building in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters

A damaged apartment building in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
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A damaged apartment building in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters

Ukrainian and European officials have said Putin is not sincerely engaging with US-led peace efforts.

The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Mr Zelenskyy said.

More on Donald Trump

“A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”

US President Donald Trump has for months been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

US envoy Steve Witkoff described talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives as “productive and constructive”.

A drone explodes during a Russian missile and drone strike, in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
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A drone explodes during a Russian missile and drone strike, in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters

Trump was less effusive on Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”

Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Mr Zelenskyy.

Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defences stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.

Read more
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Putin didn’t sound like he will alter his course anytime soon

Polish and allied fighter jets were deployed after the Russian airstrikes towards western Ukraine, near Poland’s border.

“Fighter jets were scrambled, and ground-based air-defence and radar reconnaissance systems were put on heightened readiness,” the operational command of Poland’s armed forces said.

It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.

Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.

DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.

Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.

In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.

A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.

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