Russian drones target Kyiv and Odesa

Drones attacked Kyiv on Thursday evening, subjecting residents to air sirens, bursts of gunfire and explosions in the fourth attack on the capital in as many days.

Officials said at least one drone was downed after anti-aircraft units went into action during the raid, which began just after 8pm and lasted about 20 minutes.

Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said there had been two impacts from downed drones. Reuters witnesses heard gunfire and repeated heavier explosions near the city centre.

The attacks follow a day after Russia blamed the US for an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin, which the White House denied.

“During the last air alert, an unmanned aerial vehicle was spotted over Kyiv. The object was shot down by air defence forces,” Kyiv city military administration head Serhiy Popko said on Telegram.

Popko said a fire was brought under control in a building where the drone was brought down in Solomyanskyi district west of the city centre. He said there were no injuries.

A small fire also broke out in Pechersk district to the east.

One witness said a drone was seen going down in an area near Dynamo soccer stadium and the bank of the Dnipro River just outside the city centre.

Officials said Russia fired two dozen combat drones at Ukraine on Thursday, hitting Kyiv and striking a university campus in the Black Sea city of Odesa, ahead of an expected counteroffensive by Ukraine to recapture occupied land.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday in The Hague that Russian President Vladimir Putin must be brought to justice for his war in Ukraine, and called for a new international tribunal for the “crime of aggression”.

“We’re going to set up a specific tribunal ... to show that these people are not untouchables,” Zelensky told a press conference, underlining that the invasion itself should be seen as the “primary offence” committed by Moscow.

Zelensky's declaration was made during his surprise visit to The Hague. But it was largely symbolic though  the idea of such a court has some support. But there is little prospect Moscow, which denies wrongdoing during its war in Ukraine, would participate.

In March, the International Criminal Court, a permanent war crimes tribunal that Zelensky also visited on Thursday, issued an arrest warrant for Putin for suspected deportation of children from Ukraine, which would be a war crime.

But the ICC does not have jurisdiction to try any crime of aggression in Ukraine. The UN defines the crime of aggression as “invasion or attack by the armed forces of a state (on) the territory of another state, or any military occupation”.

The European Commission supports the creation of a separate international centre for the prosecution of the crime of aggression in Ukraine, and the US has said it would like to see such a tribunal, though the allies differ over what form it should take.

“We all want to see a different Vladimir here in The Hague, the one who deserves to be sanctioned for his criminal actions here, in the capital of international law,” Zelensky said in a speech earlier in the day, referring to Putin.

“I’m sure we will see that happen when we win, and we will win,” he said.

Major legal and practical questions remain as to how a legitimate aggression tribunal could be established, either by a group of countries supporting it or with approval from the UN General Assembly.

Russia is not a member of the ICC and rejects its jurisdiction.  

Earlier in the day, as he left the ICC after a visit of just under an hour, Zelensky, dressed in his trademark khaki, waved at a Ukrainian family standing outside the ICC building as they shouted “Slava Ukraini” — or Glory to Ukraine.

The Netherlands has been a strong supporter of Ukraine, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in February saying he did not rule out any kind of military support for Kyiv as long as it did not bring defence alliance Nato into conflict with Russia.

Pledging “unwavering support”, Rutte said there were “no taboos” on sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, and that discussions were under way with other countries on the matter, before adding: “We are not there yet.”

Russia has stepped up attacks as Ukraine prepares for a counteroffensive to try to retake Russian-occupied land in the south and east. Russian shelling in the front line southern region of Kherson killed at least 23 civilians on Wednesday.

Reuters