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Fresh strikes come as US senators proposed a new £40 billion package of military aid for Ukraine
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A child was among 15 people killed and more than 50 injured in Kyiv on Thursday after Russia unleashed a combined missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital.
“There is extensive damage to residential infrastructure. In one of the residential districts, an entire section of an apartment block has been destroyed. As of now, six people are known to have been killed, including a six-year-old boy,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X.
It came as a pair of bipartisan US senators on Thursday introduced a bill that would provide £40 billion ($54.6bn) in military aid to Ukraine over the next two years.
The bill, introduced by Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, faces a stiff struggle to become law but follows threats by President Donald Trump to increase military aid to Kyiv if Moscow does not take steps to end the war.
Congress last passed a major aid package for Ukraine – £46 billion ($61bn) – in April 2024, when Democrat Joe Biden was still president and his fellow Democrats had a slim majority in the Senate.
A pair of bipartisan US senators on Thursday introduced a bill that would provide £40 billion ($54.6bn) in military aid to Ukraine over the next two years.
The bill, introduced by Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, faces a stiff struggle to become law but follows threats by President Donald Trump to increase military aid to Kyiv if Moscow does not take steps to end the war.
Congress last passed a major aid package for Ukraine – £46 billion ($61bn) – in April 2024, when Democrat Joe Biden was still president and his fellow Democrats had a slim majority in the Senate.
President Donald Trump has said that Russia’s war in Ukraine is “disgusting”.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, he said he plans to impose sanctions on Moscow if no agreement can be reached to end the conflict.
Trump said he was not sure whether sanctions would deter Russia.
He has given Russian President Vladimir Putin until August 8 to make a deal or else he will respond with economic pressure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday he had a good first call with the Polish president-elect, Karol Nawrocki, who is due to assume his role next week.
“We trust that Poland will continue to be our reliable partner and ally,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, emphasising the importance of continued military, political and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Ukrainian lawmakers have approved a bill restoring the independence of the country’s two main anti-corruption agencies.
It’s a move to defuse a political crisis that has shaken faith in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime leadership.
Thousands of protesters rallied in Kyiv and other cities in recent days in a rare show of discontent after lawmakers led by Zelensky’s ruling party rushed through amendments last week defanging the respected agencies.
Zelensky reversed course after the outcry and under pressure from top European officials, who warned that Ukraine was jeopardising its bid for EU membership by curbing the powers of its anti-graft authorities.
Lawmakers voted 331 to 0 in favour of the new Zelensky-submitted bill, which reverses measures that had given his hand-picked general prosecutor the power to transfer cases away from the agencies and reassign prosecutors.
Critics alleged the step had been designed to protect his political allies from prosecution.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones overnight.
A drone attack sparked a blaze at an industrial site in Russia’s Penza region, local governor Oleg Melnichenko said, adding that there were no casualties.
In the Volgograd region, some trains were halted after drone wreckage fell on railway infrastructure, state operator Russian Railways said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry also said that its forces had taken full control of the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
Russian and Ukrainian troops have battled for control of Chasiv Yar for nearly 18 months. It includes a hilltop from which troops can attack other key points in the region that form the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defences.
Victor Trehubov, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, has said that Russia’s claim was untrue.
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Child among 15 dead after Russian drone strikes on Kyiv – The Independent
