Zelensky says the White House did not inform him about the Pentagon leaks

Russia attempted to attack Kiev with drones for the third time in six days last night, but its efforts were repelled, city authorities said today.

“All enemy targets were identified and shot down in the airspace around the capital,” kyiv’s military administration said on the Telegram messaging app, citing initial details.

Ukrainian air defense systems have destroyed all Russian drones, officials in kyiv said. No immediate casualties or destruction have been reported.

Raid sirens blared for several hours across kyiv, the surrounding region and most of eastern Ukraine, with the sky clearing only at dawn.

Russia’s attack mainly included Iranian-made Shahed drones, it added. It was not immediately known how many drones were shot down.

Volodymyr Zelensky said the White House did not inform his administration or him about a leak of secret US documents that drew worldwide attention last month.

“I did not receive information from the White House or the Pentagon beforehand,” Zelensky said.

Calling it “unprofitable” for Ukraine, he said: “It is not beneficial to the reputation of the White House, and I think it is not beneficial to the reputation of the United States.”

The materials posted online offered a month-old partial snapshot of the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has downplayed the negative impact of the Pentagon documents leaks, saying they contained a mix of true and false information about his country’s military.

A fuel storage facility near a key bridge in Russia’s southwestern region of Krasnodar caught fire in the early hours of today, authorities said.

“The fire has been classified as the most difficult,” Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar, which is across the Azov Sea from Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app.

No immediate casualties have been reported thus far.

Preliminary footage of the explosion showed flames and black smoke billowing from what appeared to be large tanks emblazoned with red “flammable” warnings in videos posted on Russian social media.

The fire broke out in the village of Volna, in the Temryuk administrative district, the governor said.

The facility is located near the Crimean Bridge, or Kerch Strait Bridge, which links the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula that it annexed in 2014 from Ukraine.

“Everything possible is being done to prevent the fire from spreading further,” Kondratyev added. “There is no threat to the residents of the town.”

Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky months before Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, a top critic of the Ukrainian president, according to reports.

The 92-year-old News Corp chief executive made an “unreported” call with Zelensky earlier this spring, it reported. Traffic light.

During the conversation, they allegedly discussed Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, as well as the March 2022 death of Fox News journalists Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova in the country.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy strongly stressed his support for military aid to Ukraine on Monday, criticizing Russia’s “killing of children” and distancing himself from some in his party who oppose additional US aid. to prevent the Russian invasion.

In Israel, in his first trip abroad as a speaker, McCarthy flatly rejected a suggestion at a news conference that he does not support sending military and financial aid to Ukraine, and expanded his positions on other issues in his country, including his demand debt limit negotiations. with President Joe Biden.

The White House said on Monday that it now estimates Russia has suffered 100,000 casualties, including 20,000 dead, since December alone, as Ukraine has repulsed a heavy attack by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.

In what has become a bitter war of attrition, the fiercest battles have been in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia is fighting to encircle the city of Bakhmut in the face of stubborn Ukrainian defense.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US estimate is based on recently declassified US intelligence. He did not detail how the intelligence community obtained the number.

Decades after the catastrophe, now synonymous with a state secret, the crucial elements remain a mystery. andy gregory writes

Russia’s defense chief on Tuesday urged a state company to double its missile production as a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive loomed and both sides in the 14-month war reportedly feel ammunition shortages.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, speaking at a meeting with senior military commanders, said the state-owned Tactical Missile Corporation had been fulfilling its contracts in a timely manner.

But, Shoigu added, “at the moment it is necessary to double the production of high-precision weapons in the shortest possible time.”

It is ridiculous to say that Ukraine’s NATO membership is a provocation to Russia and that the UK government should support a Kiev application, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

He told lawmakers that the upcoming meeting of NATO chiefs in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July will be an “important test” of the military alliance’s willingness to “fulfill its longstanding promises to Ukraine.”

He said Kiev should be invited to make “necessary preparations” to unite “as soon as possible” for the sake of “clarity” and “peace” in Europe.

Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky months before Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, a top critic of the Ukrainian president, according to reports.

The 92-year-old News Corp chief executive made an “unreported” call with Zelensky earlier this spring, it reported. Traffic light.

During the conversation, they allegedly discussed Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, as well as the March 2022 death of Fox News journalists Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova in the country.