Ukraine updates: Russia hits Kyiv with massive drone barrage

Romania's Defense Ministry has said it found remains of a drone used in a Russian attack on Ukrainian ports on the Danube River last week.

The ministry said this was the third time it found fragments of a drone in connection with the Russian attack last week that targeted facilities just across the Danube from NATO member Romania.

The attack last week destroyed grain storage facilities, local officials said.

The ministry earlier said it had found parts in two villages just across the river.

A NATO spokesperson last week said there was no indication of an intentional attack on the alliance's territory, saying: "While NATO has no information indicating any intentional attack by Russia against Allied territory, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous."

A lawyer for Paul Whelan was unable to confirm his immediate whereabouts amid rumors of a possible prisoner exchange between the US and Russia.

At least seven other prisoners held in Russia were reported to have been moved from their jails or prison colonies in the past few days, fueling speculation of an imminent prisoner exchange, according to Russian media reports.

"I receive requests from journalists from various international agencies asking me to clarify whether I know Paul's whereabouts, as there are rumors of a possible exchange," Whelan's lawyer Olga Karlova told the Interfax news agency.

"I have sent a request to the [prison] colony administration, but I'm not getting an answer," she said.

Whelan, a 54-year-old businessman and a former US marine, has been jailed in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges that both he and the US government deny. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that doubles the one-time payment a volunteer receives when they sign up to fight in the war in Ukraine which is now in its third year.

The decree states that a person who signs a contract between August 1 and December 31 will receive a bonus of 400,000 roubles (around $4,650, €4,291) which is more than double the previous one-time payment of 195,000 roubles.

The new decree raises the minimum annual wage in the first year of service to 3.25 million roubles ($37,791). Monthly wages for officers are higher and depend on their rank. 

Russia has struggled to recruit soldiers for the army and primarily relied on financial sweeteners to make it more attractive.

Putin initially ordered an immediate partial mobilization of Russian citizens in September 2022, meaning citizens who were military reservists could be called up.

The campaign led to fierce criticism with many men seeking to flee the country. The campaign was suspended in November 2022 after Putin said they had met the target of recruiting 300,000 personnel at the time. 

A Russian storage facility for weapons and military equipment in the western Russian region of Kursk, near the Ukrainian border, was set ablaze on Wednesday morning, according to the Ukrainian military.

The army said earlier in the day that it had struck the facility and was working to assess the damage it had inflicted. Russia, it said, engaged its air defenses to try to counter the attack but explosions were visible at target locations.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it had destroyed one incoming drone and a Ukrainian Neptun-guided missile over the Kursk region. It said it shot down 18 more drones over four other Russian regions and the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine has used long-range drones to strike strategic targets, ranging from oil facilities to military radars, located as far as 932 miles (1,500 kilometers) away. 

Russia has started the third stage of drills focused on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, according to a defense ministry statement on Wednesday.

"In accordance with the decision of the president of the Russian Federation, the third stage of the exercise of non-strategic nuclear forces has begun," the defense ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

The military exercises are meant to train soldiers on deploying dummy warheads for Iskander-M missile systems and transporting them covertly to launch sites.

"The current stage of the exercise is aimed at maintaining the readiness of personnel and equipment of units of combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons of Russia to perform combat missions," the ministry said.

The first stage of the nuclear drills began in May, with Kremlin-ally Belarus participating in the second stage in June.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned the potential use of nuclear weapons in extreme situations since the start of the Russian invasion ofUkraine in February 2022.

Putin ordered these exercises in early May partly in response to perceived threats from Western nations, according to the Kremlin, especially after French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine.

Air raid alerts rang throughout the night in Kyiv as waves of Russian drone targeted the Ukrainian capital, the city's military administration said on Wednesday.

"Today Ukrainian air defense withstood and repelled a massive attack by enemy drones," the air force said in a statement.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, called it one of the biggest attacks on Ukraine with drones during the war. He said the air raid alert lasted for seven hours.

By 6:30 am (0330 GMT) on Wednesday, Ukraine's air defense systems had destroyed over 30 drones, Popko added.

"According to the operational report at this moment, there are no casualties or damage in Kyiv," he said, adding that this was Russia's seventh attack on the city in July.

Russian forces had launched one cruise missile and 89 Iranian-designed attack drones, authorities said.

Russian state news agencies, citing fighters in Ukraine, claimed the attacks targeted military airports and warehouses across the country.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram that the attack on the city came from several directions.

ss/wd (Reuters, AFP)