Good morning. We’re covering a major Russian attack on Kyiv. Also:
- More Israeli reservists are refusing to serve.
- Europe moved to reimpose sanctions on Iran.
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Plus, the secret to “KPop Demon Hunters.”
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| Kyiv after Russia’s assault yesterday. Finbarr O'Reilly for The New York Times |
Russia’s biggest strike on Kyiv since the Trump talks
An hourslong barrage of missiles and drones aimed at Kyiv yesterday killed at least 18 people, including four children, officials said. The assault, the largest on the capital in the less than two weeks since President Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, showed that America’s recent flurry of diplomacy has not brought Russia and Ukraine any closer to peace.
“Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, wrote on social media. “It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war. And this means that Russia still does not fear the consequences.”
Trump has voiced frustration with Putin’s assaults on Ukraine. But he has not followed through on threats to impose new sanctions against Russia.
E.U. mission hit: Buildings belonging to the E.U. mission and the British Council in Kyiv suffered damage in the attack. Britain said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the attack. Here is video of the damage.
Next steps: Zelensky said that his chief of staff and the head of the country’s security council would meet with Trump’s team today in New York to discuss security guarantees to be included in any future peace agreement.
Related: Russia and its allies are flying surveillance drones over routes the U.S. and its allies use to ship military supplies through Germany, Western officials said.
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| Israeli military reservists protested in Tel Aviv this month. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times |
Israeli reservists drop out ahead of Gaza offensive
Israel is preparing to call up thousands of reservists for its Gaza City offensive. But officials aren’t sure how many will return to the fight.
Over the past few months, an increasing number of Israeli reserve soldiers have not been showing up for military service. Some are disillusioned by the war and many more are exhausted after long deployments and battles on multiple fronts, in Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank.
While Israel’s government has announced that the military is planning a full-scale assault of Gaza City, soldiers have not yet moved into a majority of the city. But they have been operating for weeks in Zeitoun, a neighborhood in Gaza City. New satellite images reviewed by The New York Times show how Zeitoun, which was largely intact just three weeks ago,has been flattened by Israeli bombardment.
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| The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Its inspectors have monitored Iran’s nuclear activities. Elisabeth Mandl/Reuters |
European countries moved to reimpose Iran sanctions
Britain, France and Germany told the U.N. yesterday that Iran had violated the terms of a 2015 nuclear deal and that they planned to reinstate sanctions that were suspended under the agreement.
The move toward “snapback sanctions,” outlined in a U.N. resolution, starts a 30-day window for negotiations before the penalties return. Iran called the move illegal and said it would undermine the “ongoing process of engagement” with the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.
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| Susan Monarez was sworn in as C.D.C. director last month. Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times |
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| Brenton Edwards/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
- Cycling: Chris Froome, a four-time Tour de France winner, was airlifted to a hospital in France after a training crash.
- Tennis: Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner won their matches on Day 4 of the U.S. Open. Here’s the latest.
- Soccer: Manchester United’s latest humiliation — a defeat against lowly Grimsby FC — could be the beginning of the end for head coach Ruben Amorim.
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| Jonathan Gewirtzman |
What’s inside a tree? It turns out, a lot.
Scientists studying forests have found that each tree can be home to over a trillion living things — hidden communities of bacteria and single-celled organisms that quietly help the tree thrive. The findings, published in the journal Nature, open up new avenues of research into microbial diversity. “This is sort of, hopefully, giving people a little bit of a map to dive into deeper questions,” an author of the study said.
Lives lived: Angela Mortimer, a British tennis star who battled dysentery and partial deafness to win three Grand Slam championships, died at 93.
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| Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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| Outside a screening of “KPop Demon Hunters” in New York last week. Ye Fan for The New York Times |
The secret ingredient in ‘KPop Demon Hunters’
The animated musical “KPop Demon Hunters,” about a trio of pop stars who grapple with a diabolical boy band, went from a slow-burn hit to an outright phenomenon. It’s Netflix’s most-watched movie ever.
One of the least explored aspects of that success is the movie’s understanding of its fandom, my colleague Maya Phillips writes. The film carefully engages niche fan groups, like those for anime and K-pop. Fans helped the movie’s catchy songs climb the pop charts. Fandom is also a key driver of the story, with concert scenes featuring shots of adoring fans. Read more from Maya, who has seen “KPop Demon Hunters” at least six times.
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| Christopher Testani for The New York Times |
