Kazakh leader tells Putin war should end as Ukraine launches fresh strikes

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 JULY 2026 —

Vladimir Putin (right) said he would inform Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on 'the details' of the war. (Sputnik/EPA Images pic) MOSCOW: Ukrainian drones struck a Siberian oil refinery in a fresh wave of strikes Saturday, as Kazakhstan's president told Russia's Vladimir Putin the Ukraine war should end during a forum in Siberia's Omsk. In occupied Ukraine, Russian-installed authorities said a Ukrainian strike had killed 12 people at a seaside "tourist camp", as well as one more in a Moscow-held town and two in Russian border villages. Kyiv said Russian attacks had killed five people in eastern and southern Ukraine, and two crew members were missing after a Russian strike on a cargo ship carrying corn. The deaths come as the UN has warned of civilians dying in larger numbers recently in the almost 4.5-year war. Moscow said Ukraine - which has intensified its retaliatory strikes - launched more than 300 drones into Russia Saturday, including on far-flung regions. The governor of Siberia's Tyumen region said a local oil refinery had been set ablaze. Russia's athletics federation said an all-Russian competition in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg had been halted over drone threats. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the Siberia strike and said Kyiv had hit a military factory in the Kirov region for a second day in a row, a day after local authorities said an attack there had killed five people. Kyiv has said its retaliatory strikes are aimed at damaging Moscow's war effort and forcing the Kremlin to negotiate. 'Young people are dying' In Siberia's Omsk hours after the strikes, Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told Putin the Ukraine war should end as the pair met for a Russia-Kazakh summit. "It is a shame, young people are dying... All this has to be stopped," Tokayev said sitting next to Putin in televised comments. Putin is rarely confronted with officials publicly telling him the fighting should stop. Tokayev said the conflict should be "frozen" and suggested a return to Istanbul talks before moving "to a long-awaited peace." The Central Asian leader, who is a Moscow ally but who has never condoned Russia's offensive, said the roots of the war are "not understandable". Putin responded that he would inform Tokayev on "the details" of the war. The Russian leader has repeatedly said Moscow intends to take the rest of east Ukraine by force. US-led talks to end Europe's worst conflict since WWII have stalled. 12 killed in occupied town Russian occupational authorities in southern Ukraine said a Ukrainian strike Saturday on the Azov Sea town of Kyrylivka killed 12 people, including four children, accusing Kyiv of having targeted a "tourist camp". "The whereabouts of eight people is unknown and rescue operations are ongoing," said Yevgeny Balitsky, the Kremlin-installed head of the Russian-occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region. Another person was killed in the occupied part of the Kherson region, Moscow said. Kyiv has not yet commented on the strike, but Ukraine has increased its attacks in the Azov Sea, where it has targeted Russian shipping. Zelensky said a Russian strike on the north-eastern town of Sumy had killed three people at a site belonging to the Nova Poshta private courier service. Two other people were also killed in southern and eastern Ukraine, Kyiv said. Kyiv's transport minister Mykola Kalashnyk said on Telegram that Russia had twice hit a civilian vessel carrying almost 2,800 tons of corn as it left the port of Odesa Saturday. The ship caught fire and seven crew members and a Ukrainian pilot had to be rescued, but two other crew members were missing, he added. Urals, Siberia hit Far from the battlefield, Ukrainian drones disrupted an all-Russian athletics competition in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. Also in Yekaterinburg, Russian online retail giant Wildberries said it had evacuated its staff over a drone threat, but said its facility had not been damaged. Wildberries - Russia's version of Amazon - has been targeted by Kyiv's drones for a week, attacks that have killed some workers and caused major fires. Ukrainian drones have caused nationwide fuel shortages and disrupted ordinary life in Russia more than at any point during more than four years of war. Russia said Saturday it would extend a fuel export ban until the end of the year. (AI-assisted rewrite, based on the original source)

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