A massive Russian drone attack caused a fire in a high-rise apartment building in central Kiev early today, and fragments of the drones fell to the ground in several areas, officials said, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Timur Tkachenko, head of the Kiev military administration, said a drone set fire to apartments on the 6th and 7th floors of a high-rise building in the central Pechersk district. Photos posted online show apartments on fire as firefighters prepare for action.
Tkachenko said there were no reports of casualties.
In the southeastern city of Zaporizhia, drones hit several targets, injuring two people and causing at least one fire in a home, the regional governor said.
As part of President Volodymyr Zelensky's "Bring Back the Children of Ukraine" initiative, a group of 23 Ukrainian children and teenagers were rescued from territories occupied by Russian forces, Ukrinform reported.
The announcement was made on Telegram by the head of the presidential administration, Andriy Yermak.
He said that two sisters, aged 11 and 14, were forced to attend a Russian school. Their mother was threatened that if she refused, the children would be taken away from her.
One of the teenagers was left without guardians after the occupation and was forced to obtain a Russian passport. However, he categorically refused to attend a Russian school.
A little girl and her mother were previously denied permission to leave the occupied territory because a relative of theirs served in the Ukrainian armed forces. Since then, the family has lived under constant pressure and without any official documents.
"Today, all the rescued children are safe. They are receiving medical, psychological and humanitarian assistance, restoring their documents and gradually returning to peaceful life. I am grateful to "Save Ukraine", the Joint Center of the Security Service of Ukraine for coordinating the search and release of prisoners of war and illegally detained persons, as well as to all partners for their assistance in rescuing these children," Ermak emphasized.
According to information from Kiev, Germany and Ukraine have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of digitalization of the military forces, DPA reported.
The agreement, valid from 2026 to 2028, provides for financing three IT projects for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Defense Ministry reported.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Oksana Ferchuk described the agreement as "a signal that support for the digitalization of the armed forces is growing".
The funding will be directed at expanding the "Delta" program – a battlefield management system designed to give staff officers greater control in complex combat situations.
It will also support the "Army+" applications and "Reserve+", used for internal military management, the ministry said.
The war against Ukraine, launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin more than three and a half years ago, is increasingly taking the form of a technological conflict, DPA reported.
Ukraine relies heavily on advances in communications and weapons technology to counter Russian forces, which retain superiority in firepower and manpower.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has proposed banning Chinese airlines from flying over Russia on flights to and from the United States, Reuters reported.
US airlines have long criticized the decision to allow Chinese carriers to fly over Russia on some flights, while the US government has banned US carriers from flying over Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. d.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said in its proposed order on Thursday that "this imbalance has become a significant competitive factor".