Blasts heard in capital around midnight and residential buildings hit as Zelenskyy’s closest ally resigns amid anti-corruption probe. What we know on day 1,375

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A Russian drone and missile attack targeted Kyiv in the early hours of Saturday, killing one person and wounding seven , authorities in the Ukrainian capital said. “Enemy drones are over the city, with air defence responding,” Tymur Tkachenko, Kyiv military administration’s head, said on Telegram. “There are multiple targets on the capital’s outskirts.” The fatality was a man and a child was among the injured, he posted later. Loud explosions were heard in the city around midnight. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko warned people to remain in shelters during the attack. Residential buildings in several districts and cars were damaged, he said. Four of the injured had been hospitalised, Klitschko said on Telegram. “The enemy is heavily attacking Kyiv region with missiles and drones,” said Kyiv region’s governor, Mykola Kalashnyk, “Residential areas and people’s homes are under attack.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s powerful chief of staff and closest ally, Andriy Yermak, has resigned after Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies conducted searches at his apartment on Friday, reports Dan Sabbagh. The abrupt departure of the aide, who had been leading the latest round of delicate peace negotiations with the US, was announced by the Ukrainian president in a late-afternoon social media video. Zelenskyy praised Yermak but made clear that “there should be no reason to be distracted by anything other than the defence of Ukraine” at a time when Kyiv was dependent on retaining US support in the face of Russian territorial demands. Yermak had submitted his resignation, the president said. The search for a successor would begin on Saturday and the powerful office of the president of Ukraine, which Yermak led, would be “reorganised” as part of the process.

Ukrainian negotiators will visit the US this weekend for talks on Washington’s plan to end the Ukraine war, a senior official said . The talks may take place in Florida, the source said, speaking anonymously, adding that Yermak was meant to take part in the talks before his dismissal.

Ukrainian forces are defending their positions and hunting down sabotage groups in the north-eastern city of Kupiansk despite Moscow’s statements that its troops are fully in control of it, Ukraine’s top commander said . “Our soldiers continue to conduct both defensive and search and strike actions,” Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Telegram on Friday after visiting the area in Kharkiv region. “These actions take place daily as part of comprehensive measures to stabilise the situation in Kupiansk.” Syrskyi said Ukrainian forces were “holding designated lines and intensifying fire pressure to block the enemy’s supply routes”.

A daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma has resigned as an MP after being accused of tricking 17 South African men into fighting for Russia in Ukraine by telling them they were travelling to Russia to train as bodyguards for the Zumas’ uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party. Rachel Savage reports that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, 43, volunteered to resign and step back from public roles while cooperating with a police investigation and working to bring the men home, the MK chair said at a press conference in Durban.

Human Rights Watch will not stop investigating Russia or the actions of its military in Ukraine, despite Moscow declaring it an “undesirable” organisation earlier on Friday, the New York-based group said. It told Agence France-Presse it was “not surprised” by the designation – which effectively criminalises it in Russia and anyone who works with them – and vowed to continue its work remotely. Human Rights Watch has not had a physical presence in Russia since authorities closed its Moscow offices in 2022.

Blasts rocked two tankers from Russia’s shadow fleet in the Black Sea near Turkey’s Bosphorus strait on Friday, causing fires on the vessels, and rescue operations were launched for those onboard, Turkish authorities and sources said. The Kairos suffered an explosion and caught fire while en route from Egypt to Russia, Turkey’s transport ministry said, while the country’s Maritime Affairs Directorate said the Virat was reportedly struck about 35 nautical miles offshore. Both tankers are on a list of ships subject to sanctions on Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to LSEG data.