Kiev Governorate

Ukraine said Friday it withstood a wave of Russian missiles including hypersonic Kinzhals, which were downed over the Kiev region where African leaders were due to hold talks as part of a peace mission.

"Russian missiles are a message to Africa: Russia wants more war, not peace," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

Ukraine's capital was subjected to the largest drone attack since the start of Russia's war, local officials said, as Kiev prepared to mark the anniversary of its founding on Sunday. At least one person was killed.

Day 429 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Kiev and other parts of Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 12 and striking a residential building in central Ukraine, officials said.

Sixteen people, including two children and Ukraine's interior minister, were killed when a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten outside the capital Kiev, officials said Wednesday.

The documents indicate that the Kiev regime attempted to get access to technical opportunities for delivery of hazardous biological agents by air

The fire in the forest area around the Chernobyl NPP is extinguished, but it will continue to smolder for several days, TASS reported, quoting the head of the Ukrainian State Emergency Management Agency.

Employees at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site have faced many fears and hardships during isolation works initiated by the European Union in 1995, two employees of the sole Turkish company taking part in the project have said.

Russia on Monday released fresh information to back its claim the missile that downed a Malaysia Airlines flight over war-torn Ukraine in 2014 was fired by Kiev's forces.

Kiev's security services picked up a Turkish blogger accused of having links to the network Ankara blames for a 2016 failed coup, Ukrainian police said on July 17.