Russia bombs Kyiv as Ukraine donors meet in Rome

The UN reports that last month was the deadliest for civilians in the three-year war. Russia's surge in drone and missile attacks has brought a new level of fear to Ukraine.

As Ukraine's capital sees another night of deadly Russian airstrikes, international reconstruction efforts are discussed in Rome. 

DW spoke with Kira Rudik, member of the Ukrainian parliament, about efforts to support Ukraine. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov about US President Donald Trump's frustration over the lack of progress in ending the Ukraine war.

"I echoed what the president said, both a disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress," Rubio told reporters after meeting Lavrov for 50 minutes on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia.

"It was a frank conversation. It was an important one," he said, adding that he had repeated Trump's public criticism that Russia has shown too little flexibility to help resolve the conflict.

Rubio also revealed the US and Russia exchanged fresh ideas for possible Ukraine peace talks.

"I think it's a new and a different approach," he said when asked by a journalist whether these were concepts that had not been considered before by Trump.

"I wouldn't characterize it as something that guarantees a peace, but it's a concept that I'll take back to the president," he added, without sharing specifics.

When will the US send more Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine? That is the question hanging in the air at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome. 

More money, more ways of delivering it — like a new "EU flagship recovery fund" to attract private investment — and the announcement that Ukraine can now enter the crucial fundamentals cluster of EU accession.

All of these are important measures that are needed. But none of this really matters unless Ukraine can defend itself and its people, right now.

There are standing ovations as Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife go up the escalator to the conference hall.

Inside, nobody needs to be told that he is struggling from day to day while simultaneously planning for the day after fighting ends.

Zelenskyy highlights the stolen Ukrainian children who may "forget who they are."

"Europe will be at your side as long as it takes," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promises on stage.

For three and a half years, President Zelenskyy has been hoping to hear a "whatever it takes." So far, all allies are willing to stay the course, but not go all in. 

Just how much Europe is hanging on every word of US President Donald Trump becomes tangible and then German Chancellor Friedrich Merz goes off script, calling on Trump to "stay with us!" It is neither his style nor his character to plead like that.

The warning to Putin sounds defiant: "We won‘t give up!" Merz tells him from stage, clearly carefully avoiding anything that could sound like a military threat. 

The conference is a success by paving a way to a better future for Ukraine that could see frozen Russian assets used to fund it. 

But there is also no doubt here that that will only happen if those air defense systems arrive — and soon.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the Ukraine Recovery Conference that Germany is ready to buy US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile defense systems for Ukraine as Russia continues its daily aerial bombardment of Kyiv, involving hundreds of drones and missiles.

"We are also prepared to purchase additional Patriot systems from the US to make them available to Ukraine," Merz said.

The Patriot is one of the world's most advanced air-defense systems and is capable of intercepting aircraft as well as ballistic and cruise missiles.

Read more about what Merz's remarks at the conference, where air defense was discussed with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine's allies.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged steadfast support for Ukraine at the "Ukraine Recovery Conference" attended by Kyiv's allies being held Thursday in Rome.

"I have two messages, one goes to Moscow, to President [Vladimir] Putin," Merz said.

"The message is quite simple: We will not give up," Merz emphasized to applause from those gathered.

The conference is being held for the fourth year in a row, and was first convened in 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Merz said his second message was to Washington DC, to US President Donald Trump.

"Stay with us and stay with the Europeans," Merz said.  "We are on the same page," the German leader stressed.

Trump has signaled frustration with Putin, as the US president tries to close a deal to bring the the war to an end, even as Russian aerial bombardments on Ukrainian cities continue unabated.

Merz also told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Germany's support for Ukraine is "unwavering."

It has been a year since a Russian airstrike destroyed much of Ukraine's largest children's hospital, Okhmatdyt.

Reconstruction is underway, but in the meantime, the hospital is doing what it can to care for sick and wounded children.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that participants at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome have pledged over €10 billion ($11.7 billion) to help with Ukraine's economic recovery.

"I think we should be proud of the result we have achieved together today — nations, international organizations, financial institutions, local authorities, the business sector, and civil society," Meloni said in her opening speech at the conference.

"Together, at today's conference, we have made commitments totalling over 10 billion euros," she added.

The European Commission detailed €2.3 billion in support to Ukraine to help it rebuild.

"With 2.3 billion euros in agreements signed, we aim to unlock up to 10 billion euros in investments to rebuild homes,
reopen hospitals, revive businesses, and secure energy," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier warned that Russia was intensifying attacks and stressed that "we cannot have a shortage of funding."

Zelensky said the attacks were proof that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interested in peace and that he was escalating the violence.

Zelenskyy made the comments at the start of the two-day summit.

Ukraine's military on Wednesday said that it had carried out an "unprecedented operation" in which its forces managed to capture Russian troops just by using drones and ground-based robots.

"For the first time in history: Russian soldiers surrendered to the 3rd Assault Brigade's ground drones," a Telegram statement from Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault brigade read.

It said that no infantry was used in the operation and that there had been no casualties.

The Kyiv Independent cited the brigade as saying that its forces targeted and destroyed Russian bunkers with the use of so-called kamikaze drones and robotic vehicles.

This took place as another robot approached a damaged Russian position, prompting the remaining Russian soldiers to surrender.

The brigade said that the captured Russian soldiers were guided out of the combat zone and into the hands of Ukrainian ground forces.

Footage of the series of events was shared by the 3rd Separate Assault brigade's Telegram channel.

Ukraine has deployed teams of drone operators on a large scale since Russia invaded, using them to attack hard-to-reach positions remotely with explosives and grenades.

Ukraine is facing daily aerial bombardments with Russia using hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed drones and missiles in the overnight attacks.

DW's Brent Goff spoke to air defense expert, Thomas Withington, from the Royal United Services Institute about the use of these weapons. He said cost was a factor.

"The thing about the Shahed is that it is a comparatively low-cost yet quite effective weapon," Withington said.

"And what that means from Russia's perspective is that every evening or the evenings when Russia performs these large-scale air attacks, the country's typically able to deploy hundreds of these Shahed drones."

Withington said that the majority were being shot down but pointed out that the 10 to 20% that did get through "can be particularly devastating."

The air defense expert said that Russia was using the weapons against civilian targets "With the aim of doing as much damage and as much attrition to Ukrainian morale as possible to try and wear down the population's will to resist continued Russian aggression."

With the volume of attacks continuing to increase, Withington said that was sadly to be expected.

"There's been every indication that the Russian military were going to intensify that the severity and the weight of their attacks over the summer," with better weather conditions allowing for these types of aerial bombardments and also for ground forces to manoeuvre, Withington said.

"This is all part of Mr. Putin's attempts to try and effectively bomb Ukraine and Ukraine's allies to the negotiating table where Mr. Putin holds all of the cards and effectively dictates terms," Withington said.
 

China said Thursday it was still "verifying" the case of a Chinese father and son detained by Ukraine after being accused of espionage. They were allegedly trying to smuggle out navy missile technology.

"If Chinese citizens are involved, we will... safeguard Chinese citizens' legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

The son was a 24-year-old former student in Kyiv, and the father had traveled to the capital to meet him. The pair were "attempting to illegally export secret documentation on the Ukrainian RK-360MC Neptune missile system to China," Ukraine's SBU security service said.

As a result of being close to Moscow, Beijing has had strained relations with Ukraine.

China has been accused by Ukraine and its western allies of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine through trade and providing technology for drone attacks and other activities.

Kyiv also says several Chinese citizens have been recruited by Russia's army.
 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Malaysia on Thursday. 

The two are to meet on the sidelines of a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur, the US State Department said.

Rubio and Lavrov last met in Saudi Arabia this February, when relations between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were better due to Trump's many concessions to Moscow. They have since spoken on the phone. 

US artillery shells and mobile rocket artillery missiles were being delivered to Ukraine as of Wednesday, US officials told Reuters news agency.

Last week, President Donald Trump pledged to send more military aid to Ukraine amid his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he had earlier tried to placate.

Trump complained that Putin has been talking "BS" and been difficult to work with in US efforts to end the war.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to attend a call with leaders of the "coalition of the willing" nations. Britain and France are leading the talks on finding a possible solution and ceasefire in Ukraine.

Russian strikes hit Kyiv city early on Thursday, killing two, Ukrainian officials said. Thirteen others were injured and several fires blazed as drones and missiles attacked the capital.

"Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouse facilities, office and non-residential buildings are on fire," head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on the Telegram app.  

"After returning home from shelters, keep your windows closed — there is a lot of smoke," Tkachenko said.

Authorities said six districts had been impacted, especially the Shevchenkivskyi district known for its restaurants, bars and art galleries.

Moscow has not yet commented on the attacks. This comes right after Russia made a record number of overnight drone attacks on Ukraine.

Russia has ramped up attacks on Ukraine in recent days, forcing many to seek safety in bomb shelters overnight.

Welcome to DW's coverage of the latest developments in Russia's war in Ukraine.

Russia once again launched overnight attacks on Ukraine's capital Kyiv, killing 2 and injuring several others.

The US has restarted arms deliveries to Ukraine, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Malaysia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to join a call with the "coalition of the willing," led by the UK and France.

Stay tuned for more news and analysis.