Russia Says Ukrainian Actions Show Need to Continue ‘Special Military Operation'

Russian soldiers in Crimea (File/Reuters)
Russian soldiers in Crimea (File/Reuters)
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Russia Says Ukrainian Actions Show Need to Continue ‘Special Military Operation'

Russian soldiers in Crimea (File/Reuters)
Russian soldiers in Crimea (File/Reuters)

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that recent actions and rhetoric from Ukraine show that Russia needs to continue what it calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The operation will continue until its stated aims of "denazification and demilitarisation" are complete, and threats to Russian security are eliminated, the ministry said, Reuters reported.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told visiting NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday it was time for the military alliance to offer his country membership and that Kyiv needed more weapons to fight Russia.

Zelenskiy made his comments at a joint news conference after talks with Stoltenberg, who offered NATO's solidarity with Ukraine on his first trip to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion nearly 14 months ago.

Zelenskiy said he believed a NATO Summit in Vilnius in July could become "historic" and that he had been invited to attend.

"I am grateful for the invitation to visit the summit, but it is also important for Ukraine to receive the corresponding invitation," Zelenskiy said.



Ukraine Drone Attacks Target Moscow, Kill One in Russia's Southwest, Russia Says

An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
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Ukraine Drone Attacks Target Moscow, Kill One in Russia's Southwest, Russia Says

An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Ukraine's overnight drone attacks targeted Moscow and scores of other Russian regions, killing one person and damaging an agricultural enterprise in the country's southwest, Russian authorities said on Friday.

Russian air defenses downed 155 Ukrainian drones between 11 p.m. on Thursday (2000 GMT) and 7 a.m. on Friday, including 11 bound for Moscow, Russia's defense ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

Three of the four airports serving the Russian capital, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky, suspended operations temporarily but later resumed, Russia's aviation authority Rosaviatsia said late on Thursday. A drone crashed onto the territory of an agricultural enterprise in the Lipetsk region, sparking a short-lived fire and killing one person and injuring another, regional governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram.

The Russian defense ministry said that its air defense systems destroyed four drones over the Lipetsk region that lies in Russia's southwest. The ministry only reports the number of drones that its units destroy, not how many Ukraine launched, said Reuters.

Most of the drones overnight were destroyed over Russian regions bordering Ukraine: Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk, the ministry added.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Kyiv says its attacks on the territory of Russia are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts and are in response to Russia's continued strikes on Ukraine throughout the war.