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Added on the 16/11/2023 17:33:08 - Copyright : AFP EN
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that his military has deployed Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to counter Russia's recent large-scale drone and missile attacks. "We destroyed already some missiles and drones using the F-16," Zelensky says at a press conference in Kyiv, declining to give more details. SOUNDBITE
A hospital in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is evacuating its patients and staff over fears of Russian strikes following claims by Belarus's secret services that it, along with another medical facility, hosted military personnel. "The city is urgently beginning to evacuate two hospitals... because a video is widely circulated online, actually de facto announcing an enemy attack on these medical facilities," Kyiv's city administration said. IMAGES
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine "simply cannot wait" for more air defences as Kyiv pleads with Western allies to step up deliveries to stave off Russia's attacks. Speaking in Brussels, during a press conference alongside Finland's President Alexander Stubb, Stoltenberg says "delays in funding are having direct consequences on the ground every day." SOUNDBITE
A senior UN official condemns Russia for its "appalling assaults" on Ukraine which saw some 158 missiles launched, killing at least 30 people according to Kyiv. "Regrettably, today's appalling assaults were only the latest in a series of escalating attacks by the Russian Federation," says UN assistant secretary-general Mohamed Khiari. SOUNDBITE
Footage released by the US Air Force, shot on 14 March 2023, shows two Russian Su-27 aircraft flying close to a US MQ-9 unmanned aircraft over the Black Sea. The US Air Force has said the Russian jets conducted "an unsafe and unprofessional intercept", dumping fuel on the aircraft and striking its propeller, forcing Washington to bring down the MQ-9 Reaper drone in international waters. Moscow denied its aircraft had damaged the unmanned drone and said on Wednesday that it would try to retrieve the wreckage and also warned that it would react "proportionately" to any future US "provocations" as tensions. IMAGES
Emergency services are on scene after several explosions rocked Ukraine's capital overnight. One of the missiles hit the Sviatoshynskyi district of Kyiv, setting multiple cars on fire. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people were injured and 15 percent of households were without power and 40 percent without heating following the explosions. IMAGES