A high-rise building burns in Kyiv after a Russian strike, November 14, 2025

Thursday’s Coverage: Zelensky Fires Energy and Justice Ministers Amid $100M Corruption Allegations

UPDATE 1615 GMT:

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has denounced Russia’s murderous strikes on Kyiv:

We will not allow indifference to creep in and we will never accept the normalisation of aggression. The European Parliament will keep standing with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called out the Kremlin’s “contempt for humanity”:

It is very evident and clear that Putin aims to make winter as unbearable as possible for Ukraine, to destroy morale and break the resistance of the Ukrainian people. He is not succeeding in this.

Pistorius said Germany will give at least €150 million ($174 million) towards NATO members’ next acquisitions list of US weapons for Ukraine.

The Bundestag’s Budget Committee has approved an increase of aid for Ukraine to 11.5 billion euros ($13.4 billion) from 8.5 billion euros ($9.9 billion) in 2026.

UPDATE 1558 GMT:

The toll in Kyiv has risen to six murdered and at least 35 injured by Russia’s missile and drone strikes.

UPDATE 0815 GMT:

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union has provided Ukraine with an additional €6 billion ($6.98 billion) in direct budget assistance.

Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced the receipt of €4.1 billion ($4.77 billion), from the interest on seized Russian assets, and €1.8 billion ($2 billion) through the EU’s Ukraine Facility program.

UPDATE 0802 GMT:

The toll in Ukraine from Russia’s missile and drone strikes has risen to four murdered and 25 wounded.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky reported the casualties from the “wicked attack”, with Russia firing around 430 drones and 18 missiles.

This was a deliberately calculated attack aimed at causing maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure….

Ukraine is responding to these strikes with long-range strength, and the world must stop these attacks on life with sanctions.

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko added:

Justice will come. Justice for every life taken, every home destroyed, every family shattered. The world must act.

UPDATE 0619 GMT:

Ukraine used its domestically-produced Flamingo cruise missile and drones to strike “several dozen objects” inside Russia and Russian-occupied territories on Thursday, says the Ukrainian General Staff said.

The Staff said struck targets included a marine oil terminal in occupied Crimea, a helicopter parking lot and UAV storage area, training areas at the Kirovsk airfield, an air defense radar station, and an oil depot and forward command posts in the partly-occupied Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine.

With a warhead of up to 1,150 kg (2,535 pounds), the Flamingo has a range of 3,000 km (1,864 miles) and can land within 14 meters (45ft) of its target.

Early Friday, Ukrainian drones set afire and damaged the Sheskharis oil terminal in the port city of Novorossiysk in southern Russia.

The facility is the terminus for pipelines of Russia’s State-run Transneft, the world’s largest oil pipeline company.

Russian officials reported several coastal facilities had been damaged. The Novorossiysk mayor declared a state of emergency.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least one civilian has been killed and at least 25 injured, including a 10-year-old child and a pregnant woman, in Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early Friday.

At least 11 multi-story buildings were struck, triggering explosions and fires. The fatality was in Desnianskyi district, wher fire engulfed the 5th to 8th floors of a high-rise.

Nine of the wounded were hospitalized. Rescuers evacuated more than 40 people.

The first explosions were around 12:45 a.m. Two additional waves followed between 1 and 1:30 a.m.

“The Russians are striking residential buildings,” said the head of the military administration, Tymur Tkachenko. “Many high-rise buildings across Kyiv have been affected, in almost every district.”

A hospital, a school, and buildings at a sports facility were also hit. Sections of the heating network were damaged.

The Russians also fired drones and dozens of missiles on central, southern, and eastern regions.

In the wider Kyiv region, six civilians were injured including a 7-year-old boy. Homes, warehouses, industrial sites, and cars were damaged.