Russia-Ukraine war - latest: Putin may no longer fund Wagner Group, UK says

Vladimir Putin may no longer be funding the mercenary Wagner Group, Britain’s defence ministry has said.

The Russian state has acted against some other business interests of Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin after he led a failed mutiny against the country’s army’s top brass in June, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) said in its daily bulletin on Sunday, concluding: “There is a realistic possibility that the Kremlin no longer funds the group.”

"The second most plausible paymasters are the Belarusian authorities," it said, adding that this would be a drain on Belarus' resources.

The ministry also said the Wagner Group was moving towards downsizing and reconfiguring to save on staff salary expenses at a time of financial pressure.

This comes as Ukraine said its troops have made gains on the southern frontline and claimed to have captured unspecified territories. General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukrainian forces in the south, said the “defence forces are working” in a message on Telegram on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kyiv said its forces had made progress near Robotyne on the front line in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. But the battlefield reports have not yet been independently verified.

Key Points

• Ukraine military reports progress in south

• ‘Realistic possibility’ Kremlin no longer funds Wagner, says UK MOD

• Russia vows retaliation for Ukraine’s ‘terrorist attack’ on Crimean Bridge

• Kyiv tells Putin and Moscow to expect ‘daily attacks’

• Independent TV: Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska’s interview with Bel Trew

‘Realistic possibility’ Kremlin no longer funds Wagner, says UK MOD

07:28 , Tara Cobham

There is a “realistic possibility” the Russian state no longer funds the Wagner Group, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.

In its latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine, it states: “Since the abortive mutiny of June 2023, the Russian state has acted against some other business interests of Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin. There is a realistic possibility that the Kremlin no longer funds the group.”

The update suggests the Belarusian authorities are “the second most plausible paymasters”, but adds, “The sizable force would be a significant and potentially unwelcome drain on modest Belarusian resources.”

Overall, the MOD writes of the mercenaries currently experiencing “financial pressure”. It says: “The Wagner Group is likely moving towards a down-sizing and reconfiguration process, largely to save on staff salary expenses at a time of financial pressure.”

Baby dead in Russian attack on Kherson

04:19 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Artillery shelling in the village of Shiroka Balka, on the banks of the Dnieper River killed a family — a husband, wife, 12-year-old boy and 23-day-old girl — and another resident.

Two men were killed in the neighboring village of Stanislav, where a woman was also wounded.

The attack on Kherson province followed Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar’s comments on Saturday attempting to quell rumors that Ukrainian forces had landed on the occupied left (east) bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region.

“Again, the expert hype around the left bank in the Kherson region began. There are no reasons for excitement,” she said.

7 killed in Ukraine's Kherson region, including a 23-day-old baby girl

Ukraine is the most mined country in the world, claims defence minister

04:00 , Matt Drake

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian forces have been laying down landmines year after year in an effort to thwart any counteroffensive.

The Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov claimed that millions of explosive devices have been placed along the frontline which extends roughly 600 miles.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: "Russian minefields are a serious obstacle for our troops, but not insurmountable.

"We have skilled sappers and modern equipment, but they are extremely insufficient for the front that stretches hundreds of kilometres in the east and south of Ukraine.”

Polish minister says reinforcement at the border with Belarus is due to hostile rhetoric and actions

03:00 , Matt Drake

Poland’s defense minister said Saturday that the country has increased the number of troops protecting its border with Belarus as a deterrent amid “destabilizing” actions by its pro-Russian neighbor.

Mariusz Blaszczak met in Jarylowka, in eastern Poland, with some of the troops recently deployed close to the Belarus border.

He insisted that the increased military presence is purely a deterrent move, not a hostile act, as Minsk and Moscow are claiming.

“There is no doubt that the Belarus regime is cooperating with the Kremlin and that the attacks on the Polish border are intended to destabilize our country,” Blaszczak said.

Read the full report by Rafal Niedzielski below.

Polish minister says reinforcement at the border with Belarus is due to hostile rhetoric and actions

Further shelling in Kherson region

02:00 , Matt Drake

There has been further shelling in the village of Bilozerka on the outskirts of Kherson.

It comes after reports that shelling in Shikora Balka killed seven people, including a 23-day-old baby.

Air raid sirens were reported across the region for the rest of Sunday.

According to military officials on Telegram, 12 houses were damaged, injuring a man and a 31-year-old woman.

Ukrainian troops shoot flyers at Russian positions urging them to surrender

01:00 , Matt Drake

Images show Ukrainian soldiers preparing artillery shells filled with flyers near Bakhmut, Donetsk region.

The flyers have messages urging Russian troops to give up and are then fired towards enemy positions using a Grad multiple-launch rocket system.

Russia says it has foiled Ukraine drone attack over Belgorod region

00:00 , Matt Drake

Russia’s defence ministry claimed on Sunday that their air defences shot down another drone over the western Belgorod region at around 10 pm Moscow time.

The ministry said in a post on its Telegram channel: “There were no casualties or destruction.”

Newborn baby girl killed alongside parents and brother as Putin’s troops bombard Kherson village

23:00 , Matt Drake

An entire family including a newborn baby girl and her 12-year-old brother were among seven people killed during intense Russian shelling in a village in southern Kherson on Sunday.

Russian shells hit the village of Shiroka Balka, on the banks of the Dnieper River, and killed a family that included a husband, wife, 12-year-old boy and 23-day-old baby girl, Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry said.

Another resident was also killed, as well as two men in the neighbouring village of Stanislav.

Ukraine’s interior minister Igor Klymenko said the shells hit the family’s home in Shiroka Balka, adding: “Terrorists must be stopped. They must be stopped by force. They don’t understand anything else.”

Read the full report by Matt Drake below.

Newborn baby girl killed as Putin’s troops bombard Kherson village

Torture is ‘antithesis of a peaceful settlement,’ warns UN special rapporteur

22:26 , Andy Gregory

War crimes such as torture are “the antithesis of a peaceful settlement”, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture has warned, after writing to Russian authorities to detail allegations brought to her concerning Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.

“Torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of your enemy is one of the crimes which is so hard for societies and individuals to recover from. That is the antithesis of a peaceful settlement,” said Dr Alice Jill Edwards, in an exclusive interview with The Independent.

“It’s not the investigations into these allegations, it’s the actual acts themselves. There really is never any peace without justice, and I think the Ukraine context is very interesting how this [bid] to investigate crimes of torture is being carried out in real-time while a war is underway. That is rare.”

Ukrainian accounts of torture ‘go way beyond rogue Russian troops’, UN warns

Charting the Wagner mercenary group’s movements through the Ukraine war

21:29 , Andy Gregory

The UK’s Ministry of Defence first reported that Wagner mercenaries had been deployed in Ukraine on 28 March 2022, little over a month into Moscow’s invasion – after Russian losses had already begun to hamper the pace of the initial assault.

Military consultant Nicholas Drummond told The Independent: “Wagner was involved from the start but the group started to become a key player when the initial assault ran into difficulty. By the end of March, it was very evident that the invasion had gone wrong. Putin used Prigozhin as a troubleshooter and Wagner was there to fill the gaps.”

But despite handing Mr Putin the rare opportunity to vaunt a military success in Ukraine with the grinding and costly capture of Bakhmut, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin would ultimately turn on the Kremlin, and his exact whereabouts now are up for debate, as his mercenaries’ presence in Belarus raises concerns across the border with Nato.

My colleague Maryam Zakir-Hussain takes a look below at Wagner’s movements since the war’s outset:

Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group through the Ukraine war

Russian scientists ‘begin processing first data’ from Luna-25 space mission

20:22 , Andy Gregory

Russia has switched on the scientific instruments aboard its lunar lander and scientists began processing its first data, as the space craft sped towards the moon in a bid to be first to find ice on the Earth’s only natural satellite.

The Russian Luna-25 mission, the first since 1976, is racing against India, which launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month, to complete a soft landing on the moon’s south pole where scientists believe there are pockets of water ice.

A Soyuz 2.1 rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East at 2:11am on Friday Moscow time and was boosted out of Earth’s orbit an hour later.

There is much riding on the Luna-25 mission for Russia – if it succeeds, Moscow is likely to say it shows that the West’s sanctions over the Ukraine war cannot hold it back, while failure would again raise questions over Russia’s space ambitions after decades of superpower competition with the US during the Cold War.

Seven killed in Ukraine’s Kherson region, including a 23-day-old baby girl

19:26 , Andy Gregory

Seven people – including a 23-day-old baby girl – were killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Sunday, the country’s Internal Affairs Ministry said.

Artillery shelling in the village of Shiroka Balka, on the banks of the Dnieper River killed a family — a husband, wife, 12-year-old boy and 23-day-old girl — and another resident.

Two men were killed in the neighbouring village of Stanislav, where a woman was also wounded.

Susie Blann has the full report:

7 killed in Ukraine's Kherson region, including a 23-day-old baby girl

Ukraine claims to have ‘liquidated’ 560 Russian troops in 24 hours of fighting

18:31 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine claims to have “liquidated” a further 560 Russian troops in its daily roundup of Moscow’s losses.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also claimed to have destroyed 20 vehicles and fuel tanks, 11 armoured personnel vehicles, three tanks, and 19 artillery systems.

Ukraine’s count of Russian losses is somewhat higher than estimates by Western allies, media outlets and other analysts, which in turn are significantly higher than those admitted to by Moscow.

Large fire extinguished at fertiliser warehouse in Moscow region, Russian authorities say

17:34 , Andy Gregory

A large fire that broke out at a fertiliser warehouse in the Moscow region on Sunday has been extinguished, Russia’s emergency service has said.

The size of the fire in the town of Ramenskoye reached 2,700 square metres before it was localised and put out, Russian state news agency RIA reported.

Videos of the fire posted online earlier showed thick black smoke and a flame, seen from hundreds of metres away.

Moscow region prosecutor’s office said the preliminary cause of the fire was a violation of fire safety requirements during welding work, state news agency Tass reported, citing the warehouse’s owners as saying that all employees had left the premises.

Kerch bridge reopens after suspension, official says – day after ‘rocket strike’

16:25 , Andy Gregory

Road traffic on the bridge linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula has resumed after a brief suspension on Sunday, an official Telegram channel said.

It did not state the reason for the road closure, but it came a day after Russia’s defence ministry claimed Ukraine had unsuccessfully tried to strike the bridge across the Kerch Strait with S-200 rockets, forcing its temporary closure.

The bridge, a prized trophy of Vladimir Putin built following his illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, and has been targeted on more than one occasion since Russia’s full-scale invasion last February.

Exclusive: Ukrainian accounts of torture ‘go way beyond rogue Russian troops’, UN warns

15:27 , Andy Gregory

Allegations of Ukraine’s civilians being snatched from their homes and abused in makeshift detention centres go “way beyond” the actions of rogue Russian soldiers, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture has warned.

Dr Alice Jill Edwards has written to Russian authorities detailing the accounts she has received of harrowing and widespread human rights abuses by Moscow’s troops in Ukraine – including electrocutions, mock executions and threats of genital mutilation.

The 22-page letter serves to put Russia on notice of the extensive war crimes allegations, and in effect triggers Moscow’s obligations to investigate them under its international obligations.

But a two-month deadline to formally respond to the warning has now passed – with Russia failing to do so, while ignoring Dr Edwards’ requests for a meeting to discuss the allegations, as she prepares to embark on a fact-finding mission in Ukraine.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Dr Edwards warned that consistencies in the geographically widespread testimonies she has received “show not just a pattern, but really state authorisation” by Moscow.

Ukrainian accounts of torture ‘go way beyond rogue Russian troops’, UN warns

Russia fires warning shots at ‘Ukraine-bound’ international cargo ship in Black Sea

14:00 , Tara Cobham

A Russian warship fired warning shots at a dry cargo ship in the Black Sea on Sunday, after the Russian defence ministry said it intercepted the Palau-flagged “Sukru Okan” ship heading towards Ukraine.

Issuing a statement, Russia said its Vasily Bykov patrol ship open fired with an automatic weapon at the vessel after its captain did not respond to their request to halt for an inspection.

"To forcibly stop the vessel, warning fire was opened from automatic weapons," the Russian defence ministy said. A Ka-29 helicopter carrying Russian soldiers was then scrambled to inspect the ship.

Namita Singh reports:

Russia fires warning shots at ‘Ukraine-bound’ cargo ship in Black Sea

Russian troops ‘forced to retreat’ as Ukraine ‘retakes key Donetsk village’

12:19 , Tara Cobham

Russian troops have been forced to retreat as Ukraine has retaken a key village in Donetsk, according to reports.

Moscow’s forces have abandoned their positions in Urozhaine, which is a strategically-significant southeastern village that Kyiv has been attempting to recapture for days as part of its counteroffensive.

In reports that The Independent has been unable to independently verify, it has been suggested that Ukrainian soldiers used US smart bombs that were shipped over in March.

Ukrainian forces seek to pierce Russian lines in south, says official installed by Moscow

11:30 , Tara Cobham

Ukrainian forces are trying to pierce Russian lines in the western parts of Donetsk region where waves of Kyiv’s fighters were used to gain a foothold to the east of the town of Staromaiorske, a Russian-installed official said.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in parts of Zaporizhzhia controlled by Moscow, said that there had been intense fighting south of Velyka Novosilka - in that area - as Ukrainian troops try to pierce Russian lines to push down to the coast on the Sea of Azov.

"The enemy managed to enter and gain a foothold in the northern part of Urozhaine after two weeks of the heaviest and bloodiest battles for this settlement," Rogov said, referring to the same part of the frontline.

He said Russian soldiers still controlled the southern part of Urozhaine, adding that Ukrainian forces were clearly aiming to take control of a town further south, Staromlynivka.

Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June, attempting to retake swathes of territory captured by Russia in the south and east of the country. It has recaptured several villages in the south and some territory around the ruined city of Bakhmut in the east, but has so far not achieved major gains against well-dug in Russian troops.

Moscow says the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed.

Russia’s emergency service 'reports large fire at warehouse in Moscow region’

11:08 , Tara Cobham

Russia's emergency service said on Sunday that a large fire broke out at a warehouse in the town of Ramenskoye in Moscow region, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

"The size of the fire is 1,800 square metres," TASS quoted the statement.

Another state news agency, RIA, reported that the fire broke out at a fertiliser storage.

Videos of the fire posted online show thick black smoke and a flame, seen from hundreds of metres away.

The footage below, tweeted by an advisor to the Ukrainian government, has not been independently verified by The Independent.

Russian warship fires on dry cargo ship in Black Sea, says Moscow

11:03 , Tara Cobham

A Russian warship opened warning fire on a Palau-flagged dry cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea on Sunday as it made its way to Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry has said.

Russia said its Vasily Bykov patrol ship fired with automatic weapons on the "Sukru Okan" vessel after the captain did not respond to a request to halt for an inspection.

The Sukru Okan was making its way towards the Ukrainian port of Izmail, the defence ministry said.

"To forcibly stop the vessel, warning fire was opened from automatic weapons," the Russian defence ministy said.

The Russian military boarded the vessel with the help of a Ka-29 helicopter.

"After the inspection group completed its work on board, the Sukru Okan continued on its way to the port of Izmail," the defence ministry said.

Shipping databases list the Sukru Okan as a Palau-flagged vessel with a tonnage of 2155 whose home port is Istanbul.

Baby among seven killed in Russian shelling of Kherson, says Ukrainian minister

10:45 , Tara Cobham

A baby is among the seven civilians who were killed when Russian forces shelled the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities have said.

A couple, their 23-day-old child and another man were killed in the village of Shyroka Balka, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. The couple's 12-year-old son was critically wounded and died in hospital, he added.

Two people were killed and one wounded in the neighbouring village of Stanislav, which Klymenko said was struck 12 times with artillery.

"The terrorists will never willingly stop killing civilians," Klymenko wrote in a Telegram post along with two photos of damaged houses. "The terrorists must be stopped. With force. They don't understand anything else."

Three people were wounded when Russian forces shelled Kherson city in a separate attack on Sunday, said Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential administration.

Ukraine's military reclaimed the western part of the Kherson region from Russian occupation last November but Russian troops have continued regularly shelling the area from across the Dnipro River.

At least four Ukrainian drones launched over Russia, says Moscow

09:55 , Tara Cobham

At least four Ukrainian drones have been launched over western regions of Russia on Sunday, Moscow’s defence ministry has said.

Russian air defences shot down three drones over the Belgorod region and another over the Kursk region, it said, adding there were no casualties or damage caused by the incidents.

Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased since a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin in early May. Civilian areas of the capital were hit later in May and a Moscow business district was targeted twice in three days earlier this month.

Recap: Watch search teams comb rubble after factory explosion outside Moscow

09:13 , Tara Cobham

Recap: Russia vows retaliation after Ukraine launched attack on Crimea bridge

08:10 , Tara Cobham

Russia has vowed revenge after claiming to have shot down Ukrainian missiles targeting a key bridge linking them with the annexed Crimea.

Videos on social media appeared to show smoke rising from near Kerch Bridge, an important resupply route for Russian forces.

The Kremlin accused Ukraine of terrorism, while also claiming to have thwarted an attack by 20 drones targeting Crimea overnight.

Russian foreign spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram: “There can be no justification for such barbaric actions and they will not go unanswered.”

Holly Evans reports:

Russia vows retaliation after Ukraine launches attack on key Crimea bridge

Polish minister says reinforcement at the border with Belarus is due to hostile rhetoric and actions

07:03 , Namita Singh

Poland’s defence minister said on Saturday that the country has increased the number of troops protecting its border with Belarus as a deterrent amid “destabilising” actions by its pro-Russian neighbour.

Mariusz Blaszczak met in Jarylowka, in eastern Poland, with some of the troops recently deployed close to the Belarus border.

He insisted that the increased military presence is purely a deterrent move, not a hostile act, as Minsk and Moscow are claiming.

“There is no doubt that the Belarus regime is cooperating with the Kremlin and that the attacks on the Polish border are intended to destabilise our country,” Mr Blaszczak said.

More here:

Polish minister says reinforcement at the border with Belarus is due to hostile rhetoric and actions

One killed, six wounded in Donetsk, says Russian-installed official

06:33 , Namita Singh

A civilian was killed and six people were wounded, including a 12-year-old girl, following intense Ukrainian shelling in Donetsk, including cluster munitions, a Russian-installed official in the eastern Ukrainian region said on Saturday.

One civilian was killed in a district of the city of Donetsk, while the six wounded people were in Makiivka, which lies east of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed head of the region, said on his Telegram channel.

“In total, the enemy fired 127 rounds of ammunition at peaceful cities and regions in the republic,” Mr Pushilin said, referring to the Donetsk People’s Republic as Moscow calls the region it said last year it was annexing.

Mr Pushilin said cluster munitions were among the artillery used. Both sides have used cluster munitions in the course of Russia’s 17-month-old invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv received cluster munitions from the United States last month and vowed to only use them against concentrations of enemy soldiers.

Reuters could not independently verify the information out of Donetsk, which had been partly controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.

Russia, which early last year launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that it calls a “special military operation,” says Ukrainian forces shell the Russian-controlled parts of the Donetsk region on a daily basis.

Ukraine begins consultations with Britain on security guarantees

06:00 , Matt Drake

Ukraine has been holding consultations with the UK to secure security guarantees.

Kyiv aims to have the first agreement in place by the end of the year and is pushing to secure guarantees from powers including the US in hopes it may be let into the NATO alliance.

Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said: "Our goal is to have the first such agreements in place by the end of the year.

"Our consultations with Britain have begun."

Rheinmetall to deliver Luna drone system to Ukraine by year end

05:30 , Namita Singh

Germany’s Rheinmetall will deliver a Luna New Generation drone system to Ukraine by the year end, Bild am Sonntag reported on Sunday, citing company sources.

Ukraine is desperate to boost its weapons arsenal, from drones and munitions to tanks, as it battles to repel Russia’s invasion.

The “Drones Package” consists of a ground control station with several drones, a launch catapult and military trucks, Bild said, adding the drone system could be used as a reconnaissance system, provide an LTE network and intercept or jam communications.

The company was not immediately available for comment.

Zelensky thanks Germany for additional Patriot launchers

05:00 , Matt Drake

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz for two additional Patriot air defence system launchers.

Speaking in his evening address, Mr Zelensky said: "This is very important. Thank you. Thank you, Germany.

"Thank you to the people. Thank you, Olaf!”

Ukraine border guards remind Russia Snake Island is again theirs

04:30 , Namita Singh

Ukrainian border guards placed a new sign on Snake Island this weekend, recalling the early hours of Russia’s invasion when a comrade on the strategic Black Sea outcrop used a choice phrase to refuse to surrender to a warship.

“The next border sign will be installed in our Ukrainian Crimea after its liberation by the defence forces of Ukraine,” a uniformed man said, standing before a post painted blue and yellow like the country’s flag, in a video shared on Facebook late on Saturday by the head of the border service, Serhiy Deineko.

Tiny Snake Island became synonymous with Ukrainian resistance in the first hours of the 24 February 2022 invasion, when Russian officers on the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva radioed Ukrainian guards stationed there and ordered them to surrender or die.One of them radioed back “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”

The phrase became a national slogan, depicted on Ukrainian billboards, T-shirts, and eventually a postage stamp.

Russia's defence ministry says it destroyed Ukraine drone over Belgorod

04:16 , Namita Singh

Russian air defence systems destroyed a Ukraine-launched unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Belgorod region early on Sunday morning, the Russian defence ministry said.

“There are no casualties and no damage,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, adding the attack took place around 4am local time.

The report could not be independently verified. The Belgorod region in Russia’s south borders Ukraine.

Germany to deliver Luna drone system to Ukriane by the end of the year

04:00 , Matt Drake

A delivery of the Luna New Generation drone system will be sent to Ukraine by the end of the year, according to Bild am Sonntag.

The drone pakcage will consist of a ground control station with several drones, a launch catapult and military trucks.

Ukraine is said to be desperate for a boost in its weapons arsenal.

The drone system could be used as a reconnaissance system and could intercept or jam communications.

UN Security Council members demand Russia gives back seized land to Georgia

03:00 , Matt Drake

The US, UK, France Albania, Japan and Malta have issued a joint statement demanding Russia gives back land in the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions, occupied after the 2008 invasion of Georgia.

Russia's brutal invasion of Georgia was also condemened and they claim it marked a "more aggressive trend" in its policy toward neighbouring countries.

The statement spoke out against the “continuous provocations which go in parallel with the Russian Federation’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine”.

Russia vows retaliation after Ukraine launches attack on key Crimea bridge

02:00 , Matt Drake

Russia has vowed revenge after claiming to have shot down Ukrainian missiles targeting a key bridge linking them with the annexed Crimea.

Videos on social media appeared to show smoke rising from near Kerch Bridge, an important resupply route for Russian forces.

The Kremlin accused Ukraine of terrorism, while also claiming to have thwarted an attack by 20 drones targeting Crimea overnight.

Russian foreign spokeswoman Maria Zkharova wrote on Telegram: “There can be no justification for such barbaric actions and they will not go unanswered.”

Read the full report by Holly Evans below.

Russia vows retaliation after Ukraine launches attack on key Crimea bridge

Ukraine amputations as bad at First World War

01:00 , Matt Drake

Since the Russian invasion of 2022, both soldiers and civilians have faced devastating injuries.

According to the Wall Street Journal, between 20,000 and 50,000 Ukrainians have lost one or more limbs since the start of the war but the real number could be much larger.

The numbers are comparable to the injuries sustained by British and German soldiers in the the First World War.

Around 41,000 in Britain had some form of amputation while Germany had around 67,000.

There were fewer than 2,000 military personel lost a limb in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Polish minister says reinforcement at the border with Belarus is due to hostile rhetoric and actions

Sunday 13 August 2023 00:00 , Matt Drake

Poland’s defense minister said Saturday that the country has increased the number of troops protecting its border with Belarus as a deterrent.

Mariusz Blaszczak met in Jarylowka, in eastern Poland, with some of the troops recently deployed close to the Belarus border.

He insisted that the increased military presence is purely a deterrent move, not a hostile act, as Minsk and Moscow are claiming.

“There is no doubt that the Belarus regime is cooperating with the Kremlin and that the attacks on the Polish border are intended to destabilize our country,” Blaszczak said.

Read the full report by Rafal Niedzielski below.

Polish minister says reinforcement at the border with Belarus is due to hostile rhetoric and actions

Ukraine military reports progress in south

Saturday 12 August 2023 23:47 , Matt Drake

Ukrainian military officials said on Saturday that Kyiv’s forces had made progress in the south, capturing unspecified territories and claiming partial success near the key village of Robotyne.

“Tavria direction,” General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukrainian forces in the south, wrote on Telegram, referring to the southern front. “There are liberated territories. The defence forces are working.”

He did not specify where or when the advances were made. Separately, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said they had “partial success in the Robotyne area of the Zaporizhzhia region.” The battlefield report has not been verified.

Video has emerged of Russian fighter jet before crash

Saturday 12 August 2023 23:00 , Matt Drake

Two pilots were killed when their Su-30 fighter jet crashed during a demonstration in Russia's Kalingrad region.

Footage has emerged on Twitter of the plane flying above a crowd of spectators before taking a sudden dive and disappearing out of view behind a tree.

According to Russian state media, local officials said early investigations suggested the crash was caused by a technical malfunction.

Ukraine military reports 'partial success' at Robotyne in south

Saturday 12 August 2023 22:00 , Matt Drake

Ukraine’s military said on Saturday that its forces had made progress near Robotyne on the front line in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also said children were among the dead or wounded civilians following a day in which Russians launched six rockets and 36 air strikes and fired 32 rocket salvo fire systems at populated areas and Ukrainian troop positions.

It said 33 combat clashes had taken place and noted that Ukraine’s defence forces continued an offensive operation in Melitopol and Berdyansk directions.

It said they had “partial success in the Robotyne area of the Zaporizhzhia region.” It added that Ukrainians had dug in at the point of their advance and were conducting defensive attacks from there.

Ukraine starts registering ships for Black Sea corridor

Saturday 12 August 2023 21:30 , Matt Drake

Ukraine, which is seeking to form safe shipping routes in the Black Sea, has started registering ships willing to use the corridor, a local news agency said on Saturday.

Kyiv announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to release cargo ships that have been trapped in its ports since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The corridor is a new test of Russia’s de facto blockade since Moscow abandoned a deal last month to let Kyiv export grain.

“Registration is now open and the coordinator is already working,” Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said.

Polish reinforcements Belarus border due to ‘hostile rhetoric and actions’

Saturday 12 August 2023 21:00 , Matt Drake

Poland’s defence minister said on Saturday that its increased number of troops on the border with Belarus was a deterrent amid “destabilising” actions by its pro-Russian neighbour.

Mariusz Blaszczak met in Jarylowka, in eastern Poland, with some of the troops recently deployed close to Belarus.

He insisted that the increased military presence is purely a deterrent move, not a hostile act, as Minsk and Moscow are claiming.

“There is no doubt that the Belarus regime is cooperating with the Kremlin and that the attacks on the Polish border are intended to destabilise our country,” Mr Blaszczak said.

Two Belarus military helicopters briefly entered Poland’s airspace last week, a move considered by Warsaw to be a deliberate provocation.

Images show frontline of bloody Ukraine War

Saturday 12 August 2023 20:30 , Matt Drake

Pictures have emerged of Ukrainian soldiers firing mortar rounds at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk, today.

Other pictures show troops in trenches and reinforced beds in shelters like scenes from the First World War.

One killed, six wounded in Donetsk claims Russian official

Saturday 12 August 2023 20:00 , Matt Drake

A civilian was killed and six people were wounded, including a 12-year-old girl, following Ukrainian shelling in Donetsk, a Russian-installed official in the eastern Ukrainian region claimed on Saturday.

One civilian was killed in a district of the city of Donetsk, while the six wounded people were in Makiivka, which lies east of Donetsk, said Denis Pushilin who is the Russian-appointed head of the region.

“In total, the enemy fired 127 rounds of ammunition at peaceful cities and regions in the republic,” Pushilin said on his Telegram channel, referring to the Donetsk People’s Republic as Moscow calls the region.

Pushilin said cluster munitions were among the artillery used. Both sides have used cluster munitions in the course of Russia’s 17-month-old invasion of Ukraine.

Kyiv received cluster munitions from the United States last month and vowed to only use them against concentrations of enemy soldiers.

The information could not be independently verified. Donetsk has been partly controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.

Saturday 12 August 2023 19:30 , Matt Drake

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska has repeatedly said that one of the most unexpected outcomes for Moscow after invading Ukraine is that “soft power fought back”.

Bel Trew interviewed her from the heart of Kyiv where she learned first-hand how soft diplomacy can have an instant impact on the world stage.

Read the whole article below.

How Ukraine’s first lady struck a hammer blow against Putin via the UK

Wagner tracker: Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary group through the Ukraine war

Saturday 12 August 2023 19:00 , Matt Drake

Reporting by Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Since Vladimir Putin rose to power as Russia’s president 23 years ago, few things have rocked his leadership as much as Saturday 24 June when Wagner mercenaries barrelled towards Moscow.

The “army within an army” who had been ruthlessly grinding away for months at the vanguard of some of the bloodiest fighting in eastern flanks Ukraine were now on the verge of triggering a war within a war - this time, against the Kremlin.

But the Russian president was spared that when the mutiny was halted in its tracks about 125 miles from the capital, in a deal between the leader of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Putin – brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Prigozhin himself was due to head to Belarus – although he has been pictured in Russia since – with an invitation for Wagner fighters to gather in Belarus. Thousands are set to entered the country since.

Read the full article below.

Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group through the Ukraine war

Morners attend the funeral of Ukrainian combat medic

Saturday 12 August 2023 18:30 , Matt Drake

Mourners gave their last respects to Daria Filipieva who was killed in the Donetsk oblast.

Relatives, friends, and comrades attend the farewell ceremony for Ukrainian servicewoman, military paramedic Daria Filipyeva on Independence Square in Kyiv,

Hundreds attended the emotional ceremony.

Images show vendor waiting for customers at destroyed market

Saturday 12 August 2023 17:54 , Matt Drake

A street vendor has been pictured waiting for customers near a railway station in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

It came after Russia shelled 16 cities and villages in the region this week.

At least three people died after missiles rained down on the centre of Pokrovsk.

But unbelievably people have still continued with their business.

Circles of life: meet the kilted volunteer serving pizza to hungry Ukrainians

Saturday 12 August 2023 17:31 , Matt Drake

Harry Stourton reports from in Dnipro, Ukraine:

I just thought it was the right thing to do, to come and help,” says Tom Hughes, the raffish, unshaven 42-year-old head of the Ukrainian operation run by Scottish charity Siobhan’s Trust, which serves up hope in the shape of a pizza.

Circles of life: meet the kilted volunteer serving pizza to hungry Ukrainians

Video shows smoke on Crimea Bridge

Saturday 12 August 2023 16:34 , Matt Drake

Russia claims it has shot down three Ukrainian rockets aiming at the Kerch Bridge.

Videos have been published on Russian Telegram accounts allegedly showing a huge cloud of white smoke.

The footage has also been shown on other social media channels although it is not clear what the smoke is caused by.

Russia vows retaliation for Ukraine’s ‘terrorist attack’ on Crimean Bridge

Saturday 12 August 2023 15:57 , Matt Drake

Russia's Foreign Ministry condemned on Saturday what it called Ukraine's "terrorist attack" on the Crimean Bridge, saying it put innocent civilians' lives at risk, and vowed retaliation.

"There can be no justification for such barbaric actions and they will not go unanswered," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Earlier, Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian rocket attack on the 12-mile (19 km) bridge, which links Russian-annexed Crimea to Russia across the Kerch Strait.

The ministry said Russian forces had also shot down a number of Ukrainian drones targeting the peninsula.

Watch: Search teams comb rubble after factory explosion outside Moscow

Saturday 12 August 2023 15:00 , Tara Cobham

Another rocket downed over Kerch Strait, says Russian-installed governor of Crimea

Saturday 12 August 2023 13:42 , Tara Cobham

The Russian-installed governor of Crimea said on Saturday Russian forces had downed another rocket over the Kerch Strait, Interfax news agency reported, following an earlier attack that Russia's Defence Ministry said had involved two Su-200 rockets.

"Another enemy rocket shot down over the Kerch Strait," Sergei Aksyonov said on the Telegram messaging app, quoted by Interfax. "Thank you to our air defence forces for a high level of professionalism and vigilance."

Ukraine attempts to strike Crimea bridge with two rockets, says Russia

Saturday 12 August 2023 12:04 , Tara Cobham

Two Ukrainian rockets were shot down near the Crimea Bridge, Moscow has said.

Moscow’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Ukraine had tried unsuccessfully to strike the bridge, also known as the Kerch Strait Bridge, with S-200 rockets, but that no damage or casualties had been caused.

Earlier, Russian-installed Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app that two rockets had been downed by anti-aircraft defences near the bridge, which separates the peninsula from the Russian mainland and has come under repeated attack by Kyiv since last year.

Earlier, footage appearing to show the 12-mile (19-km) long bridge wreathed in smoke was circulating on Russian social media. Interfax news agency reported that the bridge had been closed to traffic.

Russian Orthodox priests face persecution for supporting peace in Ukraine

Saturday 12 August 2023 10:22 , Tara Cobham

Standing in an old Orthodox church in Antalya with a Bible in one hand and a candle in the other, the Rev. Ioann Koval led one of his first services in Turkey after Russian Orthodox Church leadership decided to defrock him following his prayer for peace in Ukraine.

Last September, when President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists, Moscow Patriarch Kirill required his clergymen to pray for victory. Standing in front of the altar and dozens of his parishioners in one of Moscow’s churches, Koval decided to put the peace above the patriarch’s orders.

“With the word 'victory' the prayer acquired a propagandistic meaning, shaping the correct thinking among the parishioners, among the clergy, what they should think about and how they should see these hostilities," Koval said. “It went against my conscience. I couldn’t submit to this political pressure from the hierarchy.”

In the prayer he recited multiple times, the 45-year-old priest changed just one word, replacing “victory” with “peace” — but it was enough for the church court to remove his priestly rank.

Kostya Manenkov reports:

Russian Orthodox priests face persecution from state and church for supporting peace in Ukraine

Two killed in Russian shelling of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, says Ukraine

Saturday 12 August 2023 09:19 , Tara Cobham

An elderly woman and a police officer were killed early Saturday by Russian shelling on a settlement in Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine and Zaporizhzhia in the south, Ukrainian officials said.

"This morning, around 5:10, the enemy fired on Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi village in Kupiansk district. A residential building was damaged. A 73-year-old woman died," Kharkiv governor Oleh Synehubov said on the Telegram messaging app.

In a separate attack on Orikhiv town in Zaporizhzhia region, one police officer was killed and 12 people, including four police officers, were injured, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram. He said Russian troops used a guided aerial bomb. Reuters could not independently verify the details of the Ukrainian reports.

Eastern parts of Kharkiv region and most of Zaporizhzhia region are directly adjacent to the front line, and Ukrainian forces have reported an increase in Russian attacks there in recent weeks. Kharkiv regional authorities earlier this month announced the mandatory evacuation of civilians from settlements closest to the front line in Kupiansk district.

Ukrainian authorities said this week that Russia attacked a "civilian infrastructure object" in Zaporizhzhia on Thursday evening.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians during its invasion of Ukraine, which is now in its 18th month and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, the uprooting of millions and the destruction of Ukrainian towns and cities.

Ukrainian accounts of torture ‘go way beyond rogue Russian troops’, UN warns

Saturday 12 August 2023 08:30 , Tara Cobham

Allegations of Ukraine’s civilians being snatched from their homes and abused in makeshift detention centres go “way beyond” the actions of rogue Russian soldiers, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture has told The Independent.

Dr Alice Jill Edwards has written to Russian authorities detailing the accounts she has received of harrowing and widespread human rights abuses by Moscow’s troops in Ukraine since Vladimir Putin’s invasion – including electrocutions, mock executions and threats of genital mutilation.

The 22-page letter serves to put Russia on notice of the extensive war crimes allegations, and in effect triggers Moscow’s obligations to investigate them, as a party to the UN Convention Against Torture, and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Andy Gregory reports:

Ukrainian accounts of torture ‘go way beyond rogue Russian troops’, UN warns

Russia’s Shoigu inspects Northern Fleet as warships sent to Arctic

Saturday 12 August 2023 07:30 , Tara Cobham

Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected remote Arctic garrisons of the Northern Fleet, the ministry said on Saturday, as a detachment of warships was sent to the Arctic Ocean to perform tasks.

Shoigu inspected the military infrastructure as well as "readiness for actions to protect and defend critical facilities", the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

A detachment of warships, including the destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov, the landing ship Alexander Otrakovsky and the rescue tug Altai went to the Arctic, the ministry said.

It was not clear when Shoigu visited the fleet. It started military training on Friday aimed at working out actions to protect Russia's sovereignty in the waters of the Northern Sea Route, the fleet said.

As part of combat training, MiG-31 fighter-interceptors performed air defence, air reconnaissance and cover for troops and forces operating in the Arctic zone, the ministry said.

How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?

Saturday 12 August 2023 07:00 , Namita Singh

Establishing accurate data on the number of military casualties sustained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 is difficult for two reasons, writes my colleague Joe Sommerlad.

The severity of the fighting on the ground and the fact that both sides are inclined to keep their cards close to their chests to avoid damaging morale – especially at a time when the war is entering a pivotal new stage.

The Kremlin, in particular, is unlikely to admit to high fatality rates among its troops because to do so would amount to a confession that Vladimir Putin’s spurious war to “de-Nazify” Russia’s neighbour state is not going according to plan and, in fact, represents a monumental miscalculation on the part of its leader, who is already under pressure at home over the attempted uprising by Wagner Group mercenaries.

But where does the official number stand and what are the unofficial estimates? Report:

How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?

Wagner tracker: Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary group through the Ukraine war

Saturday 12 August 2023 06:30 , Namita Singh

Since Vladimir Putin rose to power as Russia’s president 23 years ago, few things have rocked his leadership as much as Saturday 24 June when Wagner mercenaries barrelled towards Moscow.

The “army within an army” who had been ruthlessly grinding away for months at the vanguard of some of the bloodiest fighting in eastern Ukraine were now on the verge of triggering a war within a war - this time, against the Kremlin.

But the Russian president was spared that when the mutiny was halted in its tracks about 125 miles from the capital, in a deal between the leader of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Putin – brokered by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

Report:

Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group through the Ukraine war

Ukraine downs one out of four Russian hypersonic missiles in air strike, says military

Saturday 12 August 2023 06:00 , Namita Singh

The Ukrainian air force shot down one out of four hypersonic missiles fired by Russia on Friday at a military airfield in the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, the military said.

“One X-47 (hypersonic) missile was destroyed within the Kyiv region. The rest hit near the airfield. Civilian infrastructure was damaged, and one of the missiles hit a residential area,” it said on the Telegram messaging app.

Germany in talks with MBDA over delivery of cruise missiles to Ukraine - source

Saturday 12 August 2023 05:30 , Namita Singh

The German government is in talks with arms maker MBDA about the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, a security source told Reuters on Friday, echoing a report by Spiegel magazine.

Kyiv has been pushing Berlin to supply it with the Taurus, a missile with a range of more than 500km (311 miles) that is launched by fighter jets such as the Tornado, the F-15 or the F-18. Berlin has held back amid concern over the long range of the weapon and its potential use against targets inside Russia.

A German government spokesperson told Reuters the government had no update to its position. “Germany is focusing on heavy artillery, armored vehicles and air defense systems. There is no new information on the Taurus cruise missile,” said the spokesperson.

Cruise missiles are hard to detect by air defence radars as they fly at low altitudes. They are mainly used to hit high-value targets behind enemy lines such as command bunkers, ammunitions and fuel dumps, airfields and bridges.

Britain and France have supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, and Ukraine’s military has said it had adapted Soviet-made aircraft to use them. However, the United States has so far refrained from sending its ATACMS to Ukraine despite requests by Kyiv.

Ukraine sacks army recruitment chiefs in anti-graft shakeup

Saturday 12 August 2023 05:00 , Namita Singh

President Volodymyr Zelensky broadened his battle against graft on Friday, firing all the heads of Ukraine’s regional army recruitment centres as the war with Russia enters a critical stage.

Mr Zelensky said a state investigation into centres across Ukraine had exposed abuses by officials ranging from illegal enrichment to transporting draft-eligible men across the border despite a wartime ban on them leaving the country.

He said 112 criminal cases had been opened in a wide-ranging probe launched after a graft scandal at a recruitment office in Odesa region last month. He used harsh rhetoric likely to be welcomed by Ukrainians appalled by cases of wartime corruption.

“This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason,” he said, adding that those fired would be replaced by recent veterans and soldiers wounded at the front.

Ukraine has made cracking down on graft a priority as it fends off Russia’s full-scale invasion and seeks membership of the European Union and has fired or prosecuted a string of high-ranking officials implicated in sleaze.

Friday’s move comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Kyiv with its long-touted counteroffensive hampered by extensive Russian defences across swathes of the southeast.

Mr Zelensky said that any sacked army recruitment officers who are not being investigated should head to the front to fight for Ukraine “if they want to keep their epaulettes and prove their dignity”.

“But let me emphasize: the army is not and never will be a substitute for criminal punishment. Officials who confused epaulettes with perks will definitely face trial,” he said in his statement.

France condemns Russian strike that killed child in Ukraine

Saturday 12 August 2023 04:30 , Namita Singh

Russia’s latest missile strikes killing one child in western Ukraine constitute “war crimes and must not go unpunished,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement late on Friday.

“These attacks have once again targeted civilian infrastructure, including a residential zone, which is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian rights,” the statement read.

Moscow denied intentionally targeting civilians.

Russia launched four hypersonic missiles into the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk on Friday, with three landing near a military airfield including in residential areas.

The fourth Kinzhal missile was shot down by air defences, Ukraine’s air force has said.

The French ministry added France would reinforce its military support to Ukraine, notably in strengthening air defence capacities, in close cooperation with its partners.

“France’s support to Ukrainian and international jurisdictions to fight against the impunity of crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine remains total,” the statement read.

Russia destroys 20 Ukrainian drone over Crimea – agencies

Saturday 12 August 2023 04:17 , Namita Singh

Russia destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones launched onto the Crimean Peninsula earlier today, Russian news agencies cited the defence ministry as saying.

Russia’s air defence systems shot down 14 drones, while electronic warfare neutralised six, the agencies cited the ministry as saying.

The reports could not be independently verified.

US sanctions four Russians linked to financial conglomerate Alfa Group

Saturday 12 August 2023 04:00 , Namita Singh

The US on Friday imposed new sanctions on four Russians linked to financial and investment conglomerate Alfa Group and a Russian business association, the latest measures targeting Moscow’s financial elite over the war in Ukraine.

The Treasury Department said it was targeting four men who have served on Alfa’s supervisory board - Petr Olegivich Aven, Mikhail Maratovich Fridman, German Borisovich Khan and Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev - under sanctions against the country’s financial services sector.

It also imposed sanctions on the Russian Association of Employers the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, it said.

“Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people,” deputy secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in the statement.

Commenting on the new sanctions, Russia’s ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said they were part of “a failing restrictive policy” and the White House “could not destroy our economy and undermine technological sovereignty.”

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska’s interview with Bel Trew | An Independent TV Original

Saturday 12 August 2023 03:28 , Andy Gregory

From inside the heavily-guarded Ukraine presidential compound in Kyiv, First Lady Olena Zelenska has spoken in a rare and wide ranging interview with The Independent’s chief international correspondent Bel Trew.

During their discussion Mrs Zelenska blasted countries for circumventing Russian sanctions, saying the conflict in her nation will drag on “endlessly until Russia‘s ability to wage war is stopped.”

She also warned Ukraine’s children are “losing the will to live” in an emotional plea for help, as she spoke of the struggle to retrieve the children disappeared into Russia.

Watch the full interview on Independent TV, across mobile and connected TV.

Russia, China and Iran are engaged in foreign interference in New Zealand, intelligence agency says

Saturday 12 August 2023 02:42 , Andy Gregory

China, Iran and Russia are engaged in foreign interference in New Zealand, the nation's domestic intelligence agency said Friday after making its threat assessment report public for the first time.

The agency linked Russia’s war in Ukraine to a number of problems, including increased geopolitical competition, supply chain disruptions, and efforts to spy on other countries and seed disinformation.

“Russia’s international disinformation campaigns have not targeted New Zealand specifically, but have had an impact on the views of some New Zealanders,” the report found.

Nick Perry has the full story:

China, Russia and Iran are engaged in foreign interference in New Zealand, intelligence agency says

How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?

Saturday 12 August 2023 01:37 , Andy Gregory

Establishing accurate data on the number of military casualties sustained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 is difficult for two reasons.

The severity of the fighting on the ground and the fact that both sides are inclined to keep their cards close to their chests to avoid damaging morale – especially at a time when the war is entering a pivotal new stage.

My colleague Joe Sommerlad has this guide to the varying publicly available estimates of the toll of Russia’s war has taken on its troops:

How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?

Video report: Aftermath of Moscow drone attack as fire breaks out near Putin's residence

Saturday 12 August 2023 00:33 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine ‘begins consultations' with Britain on pre-Nato security guarantees

Friday 11 August 2023 23:31 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine has begun holding consultations with the UK to agree upon security guarantees aimed to be in place the end of the year, a senior Ukrainian official has said.

Kyiv is pushing to secure security guarantees from multiple nations, including the United States, pending what it hopes will be its eventual accession to Nato.

“Our goal is to have the first such agreements in place by the end of the year,” Volodymr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said in televised comments.

“Our consultations with Britain have begun,” he said.

White House ‘open to training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in US'

Friday 11 August 2023 22:28 , Andy Gregory

Washington has said it is open to training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets in the United States if capacity for such training is reached in Europe.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Washington is eager to move forward with the training.

Wagner tracker: Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary group through the Ukraine war

Friday 11 August 2023 21:30 , Sam Rkaina

Since Vladimir Putin rose to power as Russia’s president 23 years ago, few things have rocked his leadership as much as Saturday 24 June when Wagner mercenaries barrelled towards Moscow.

The “army within an army” who had been ruthlessly grinding away for months at the vanguard of some of the bloodiest fighting in eastern flanks Ukraine were now on the verge of triggering a war within a war - this time, against the Kremlin.

But the Russian president was spared that when the mutiny was halted in its tracks about 125 miles from the capital, in a deal between the leader of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Putin – brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Prigozhin himself was due to head to Belarus – although he has been pictured in Russia since – with an invitation for Wagner fighters to gather in Belarus. Thousands are set to entered the country since.

Click here for the full story on Wagner’s movements.

Friday 11 August 2023 20:35 , Sam Rkaina

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy broadened his battle against graft on Friday, firing all the heads of Ukraine’s regional army recruitment centres as the war with Russia enters a critical stage.

Mr Zelensky said that any sacked army recruitment officers who are not being investigated should head to the front to fight for Ukraine “if they want to keep their epaulettes and prove their dignity”.

“But let me emphasize: the army is not and never will be a substitute for criminal punishment. Officials who confused epaulettes with perks will definitely face trial,” he said in his statement.

Ukraine has increasingly faced recruitment challenges as the war, now in a brutally attritional phase, nears the 18-month mark. The military has been occasionally hit by scandals involving graft or heavy-handed recruitment tactics.

Last month, the head of the Odesa region’s recruitment centre was ordered into pre-trial detention on suspicion of illegal enrichment. Ukrainian media reports found his family had acquired lavish property in Spain.

Videos purporting to depict army recruiters aggressively pursuing or becoming violent with would-be draftees have gone viral on social media in the country, which has been under martial law since the invasion.

Mr Zelensky said top general Valery Zaluzhny would be responsible for implementing Friday’s decision and that new candidates for the posts would first be vetted by Ukraine’s domestic security service, the SBU.

Despite recent moves against graft, Ukraine still ranks 116th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index.

A Transparency-commissioned opinion poll in June found that 77% of Ukrainians believe corruption is among Ukraine’s most serious problems.

US sanctions four Russians linked to financial conglomerate Alfa Group

Friday 11 August 2023 19:38 , Maanya Sachdeva

The US imposed new sanctions on Friday on four Russians linked to financial and investment conglomerate Alfa Group and a Russian business association, the Treasury Department said in a statement announcing the latest measures targeting Moscow’s financial elite over the war in Ukraine.

The Treasury said it was targeting four men who have served on the supervisory board of the Alfa Group - Petr Olegivich Aven, Mikhail Maratovich Fridman, German Borisovich Khan and Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev - one of Russia‘s largest financial and investment conglomerates under sanctions against the country’s financial services sector.

It also imposed sanctions on the Russian Association of Employers the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Reuters reported.

Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people, deputy secretary of the Treasury, Wally Adeyemo said in the statement.

Russia‘s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Day ‘began with the sounds of air defense’, Zelensky shares daily report

Friday 11 August 2023 18:38 , Maanya Sachdeva

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the day “began with the sounds of air defense in the background” in his daily night-time address.

“We worked on rescue operations following Russian strikes, increasing defense production, cleaning up corruption in military recruiting, the Peace Formula, alternative grain export routes, and frontline efforts,” he summarised, alongside his video message on X (formerly Twitter).

Russia attacked the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk with hypersonic missiles on Friday, hitting areas near a military airfield and killing an eight-year-old boy, Ukrainian officials said.

Air defences shot down one of the four Kinzhal missiles near the capital Kyiv as they hurtled towards western Ukraine hundreds of miles from the front, the air force said.

Air Force Colonel Yuriy Ihnat suggested the attack had been aimed at Ukrainian pilots who were about to travel to the West to train to use F-16 fighter jets that Kyiv hopes will eventually be delivered.

In Kyiv’s northern Obolon district, missile fragments crashed into the grounds of a children’s hospital, damaged the roof of a house and also fell on a complex of country homes. Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported no casualties.

How Ukraine’s first lady struck a hammer blow against Putin via the UK

Friday 11 August 2023 17:38 , Maanya Sachdeva

Sitting with Olena Zelenska in the fortified presidential complex in Kyiv, her understated delivery belied a strong defiance of Russia’s invasion, writes The Independent‘s Bel Trew.

“Britain’s sanctions against Moscow’s war machine were quickly expanded in the wake of our interview.”

Read more here:

How Ukraine’s first lady struck a hammer blow against Putin via the UK

People without Russian passports in occupied Lazurne ‘will be denied insulin and medicines’

Friday 11 August 2023 16:38 , Maanya Sachdeva

Local media reported that the Russia-appointed head of occupied Lazurne in Kherson allegedly announced residents without Russian passports would be denied insulin and other medicines.

He also reportedly said children who don’t want to study in Russian schools would be “taken to the contact line”.

Zelensky fires heads of all military recruitment centres amid corruption crackdown

Friday 11 August 2023 15:30 , Maanya Sachdeva

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the firing of all the heads of regional military draft boards, part of his crackdown on corruption since the outbreak of Russia‘s war in Ukraine more than 17 months ago.

Zelenskyy in Friday said he was firing draft board directors in all the Ukraine‘s regions, adding that the jobs should go to war veterans, including those with injuries.

The step was taken after Ukrainian security services presented details of 112 criminal cases against draft board officials suspected of taking bribes and engaging in corrupt practices, as well as 33 suspects who have yet to be charged.Zelenskyy previously fired senior officials suspected of corruption. That has sent a signal to Western allies providing Kyiv with tens of billions of dollars in military aid that Ukraine is serious about clamping down on graft, which has long plagued the country’s military.

Ukrainian troops launch surprise raid across Dnipro River and break through some of Russia’s defences

Friday 11 August 2023 14:35 , Maanya Sachdeva

Ukrainian forces broke through Russia’s defensive lines after launching a surprise raid across the Dnipro River.

The river divides liberated Ukrainian territory on one bank and Russian-occupied land on the other, and for months it has served as part of the front line in southern Ukraine.

Russian military bloggers suggest some of Moscow’s soldiers were either killed or captured in the raid.

Chris Stevenson has the full story:

Ukraine’s troops launch surprise raid across Dnipro River

Kyiv tells Putin and Moscow to expect ‘daily attacks’

Friday 11 August 2023 14:34 , Maanya Sachdeva

A spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence has said Moscow should expect “daily attacks”, after the Russian government announced a drone headed towards the capital was shot down on Friday.

The MoD said a Ukrainian drone was jammed, causing it to crash, as it flew towards its target in Moscow

Andriy Yusov told Kyiv Post that “the concept of security is increasingly distant from the residents of Moscow”, adding that Russian air defence system is “ineffective, outdated, and cannot adequately respond to modern challenges”.

Mr Yosov added: “Perhaps this trend will lead the residents of Moscow to some correct conclusions – whether or not to believe Russian television and Russian propaganda, and whether or not to continue to support the criminal regime.”

What Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska wants the world to know

Friday 11 August 2023 14:05 , Maanya Sachdeva

In a rare interview the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, has spoken to Independent TV about her work rebuilding Ukraine in the middle of war, the pressures on her family and concerns for the future of her country.

From the presidential palace, she told The Independent’s Bel Trew about the need to reconstruct cities despite the fighting raging on, about building cutting-edge facilities to treat the country’s’ war-wounded and fighting stigma on trauma around the country.

Follow the story here:

What Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska wants the world to know

Ukraine downs one out of four Russian hypersonic missiles in air strike, military says

Friday 11 August 2023 13:35 , Maanya Sachdeva

The Ukrainian air force shot down one out of four hypersonic missiles fired by Russia on Friday at a military airfield in the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, the military said.

“One X-47 (hypersonic) missile was destroyed within the Kyiv region. The rest hit near the airfield. Civilian infrastructure was damaged, and one of the missiles hit a residential area,” it said on the Telegram messaging app.

Wagner tracker: Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary group through the Ukraine war

Friday 11 August 2023 13:05 , Maanya Sachdeva

From Bucha to the battle for Bakhmut, we track Wagner’s bloody role in Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain reports:

Charting Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group through the Ukraine war

Russia says it hit mercenary quarters in Zaporizhzhia

Friday 11 August 2023 12:15 , Maanya Sachdeva

Russia‘s defence ministry said on Friday its forces hit a location where “foreign mercenaries” were quartered in Ukraine‘s Zaporizhzhia region, after Kyiv said a Russian missile struck a hotel on Thursday evening, leaving one dead and 16 injured.

Local media reported the damaged building was Reikartz Hotel in the Zaporizhzhia city centre on the bank of the Dnipro River.

Child killed in Russian air strike in western Ukraine, governor says

Friday 11 August 2023 11:45 , Maanya Sachdeva

A Russian missile strike crashed into the grounds of a house in the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk on Friday, killing an eight-year-old boy, the governor and state prosecutors said.

“There are wounded (people) including a child who was brought to hospital in critical condition. Medics did everything possible, but unfortunately the child’s life could not be saved,” governor Svitlana Onyshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Moscow says crashed drone was headed for a facility in capital

Friday 11 August 2023 11:12 , Maanya Sachdeva

New photographs from Moscow showed police have cordoned off the area where a Ukrainian drone, headed for the Russian capital, reportedly crashed on Friday.

Russia’s ministry of defence said the air force on Friday downed a Ukrainian drone as it flew towards an unspecified target in Moscow, marking the latest in a flurry of drone attacks on the Russian capital.

The mionistry said the drone was jammed and crashed in a forest west of Moscow, calling it “... an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on a facility in Moscow”.

Ukraine has not addressed the alleged attack, as Kyiv refrains from commenting on who is behind attacks on Russian territory.

ICYMI: Warehouse near Putin’s home on fire

Friday 11 August 2023 10:32 , Maanya Sachdeva

Russia’s emergency service said on Thursday a warehouse in Odintsovo, a town to the west of Moscow between Vladimir Putin’s official residence and the Vnukovo airport, was reportedly on fire.

According to a report by TASS news agency, it bwas not immediately clear how how the fire had started in the warehouse, located 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) away from Putin’s presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo.

As of around midnight Moscow time, the size of the fire was 21,500 sq ft, TASS said citing an emergency service statement.

Ukrainian drone jammed over Moscow, Russia says

Friday 11 August 2023 10:15 , Maanya Sachdeva

A Ukrainian drone was jammed as it flew towards its target in Moscow, causing it to crash, Russia‘s defence ministry said.

The airspace over two Russian airports was also temporarily closed on Friday, with all arrivals and departures suspended, in a move that the RIA state news agency said was caused by suspected drone flights.

It was not immediately clear if the two incidents were related.

The airspace over Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and over Kaluga airport, some 150 km (95 miles) southwest of the Russian capital, later reopened, TASS news agency reported.

“From 10.50 a.m. (0750 GMT) the restrictions on flights were removed. At the current time the airport is working normally,” TASS quoted a source at Vnukovo airport as saying.

Earlier, the airport had said it was compelled to suspend all flights “for reasons beyond the control of the airport”, adding that some flights had been redirected to other airports in the Moscow region. It gave no further information.

Germany ‘in talks with MBDA over delivery of cruise missiles to Ukraine’

Friday 11 August 2023 10:00 , Maanya Sachdeva

Germany is reportedly considering supplying Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles.

A security source told Reuters the government is talks with arms maker MBDA about the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, echoing a report by Spiegel magazine.

Kyiv has been pushing Berlin to supply it with the Taurus, a missile with a range of more than 500 km (311 miles) that is launched by fighter jets such as the Tornado, the F-15 or the F-18.

Cruise missiles are hard to detect by air defence radars as they fly at low altitudes. They are mainly used to hit high-value targets behind enemy lines such as command bunkers, ammunitions and fuel dumps, airfields and bridges.

While Britain and France have supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, Berlin has been reluctant to follow in their footsteps amid concerns over the long range of the weapon and its potential use against targets inside Russia.

Technically, it is very easy to limit the range of a Taurus cruise missile, according to experts.

The talks between the German government and MBDA are focusing on such a modification as Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to prevent at all costs any Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory with the weapon, Spiegel reported.

In June, the Kremlin warned France and Germany that delivering cruise missiles to Kyiv would lead to a further round of “spiralling tension” in the Ukraine conflict.

Russia has been using long-range missiles to destroy targets in Ukraine including civilian infrastructure, and Ukraine has no easy way to respond to that.

The German military has some 600 Taurus missiles in its inventories, with some 150 among them ready for use, according to media reports. Spain and South Korea also operate the Taurus.

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport rsuspends flights due to suspected drone

Friday 11 August 2023 09:30 , Maanya Sachdeva

The airspace over Moscow’s Vnukovo airport was temporarily closed on Friday, with all arrivals and departures suspended, and Russia‘s RIA news agency said the move was due to a suspected drone flight in the area.

The airport has reportedly since reopened.

“For reasons beyond the control of the airport, temporary restrictions on the landing and take-offs of aircraft were introduced in Vnukovo,” the airport said in an earlier statement.

“For safety reasons, some of the flights were redirected to other airports of the Moscow aviation hub,” it said, without commenting further.

There has been a number of drone attacks in the Moscow area in recent weeks that Russia has blamed on Ukraine.

Russia’s first moon mission in nearly 50 years takes off

Friday 11 August 2023 09:00 , Maanya Sachdeva

A rocket carrying a lunar landing craft has blasted off on Russia‘s first moon mission in nearly 50 years, racing to land on Earth’s satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft.

The launch from Russia‘s Vostochny spaceport in the Far East of the Luna-25 craft to the moon is Russia‘s first since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union.

The spaceport is a pet project of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is key to his efforts to make Russia a space superpower and move Russian launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Russian lunar lander is expected to reach the moon on August 23, about the same day as an Indian craft which was launched on July 14.

The Russian spacecraft will take about 5.5 days to travel to the moon’s vicinity, then spend three to seven days orbiting at about 62 miles before heading for the surface.

Only three governments have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the United States and China. India and Russia are aiming to be the first to land at the moon’s south pole.

The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may contain water. The frozen water in the rocks could be transformed by future explorers into air and rocket fuel.

A previous Indian attempt to land at the moon’s south pole in 2019 ended when the lander crashed into the moon’s surface.

“The moon is largely untouched and the whole history of the moon is written on its face,” said Ed Bloomer, an astronomer at Britain’s Royal Observatory, Greenwich. “It is pristine and like nothing you get on Earth. It is its own laboratory.”

The Luna-25 is to take samples of moon rock and dust. The samples are crucial to understanding the moon’s environment ahead of building any base there, “otherwise we could be building things and having to shut them down six months later because everything has effectively been sand-blasted”, Mr Bloomer said.

Roscosmos, Russia‘s space agency, said it wants to show Russia “is a state capable of delivering a payload to the moon”, and “ensure Russia‘s guaranteed access to the moon’s surface”.

Sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine make it harder for it to access Western technology, impacting upon its space programme.

Multiple explosions in Kyiv, reports say

Friday 11 August 2023 08:27 , Maanya Sachdeva

There have reportedly been multiple explosions in Kyiv within a few minutes, according to news reports.

The city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that a Russian rocket had hit a children’s hospital in the capital, reporting that there were “no casualties”.

Shortly before, he had urged people to “stay in the shelters please” in a message on Telegram, the Guardian reported.

Blasts were also reportedly heard in the western city of Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia, in the western central region.

Ukraine announces ‘humanitarian corridor’ in Black Sea

Friday 11 August 2023 08:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ukraine has announced a “humanitarian corridor” to let dozens of cargo ships trapped in its ports since the outbreak of war last year sail into the Black Sea.

At least initially, the corridor appears to apply to vessels such as container ships that have been stuck in Ukrainian ports since the February 2022 invasion, and were not covered by the deal that opened the ports for grain shipments last year.

But it could be a major test of Ukraine’s ability to reopen sea lanes at a time when Russia is trying to reimpose its de-facto blockade, having abandoned the grain deal last month.

“Today a new temporary humanitarian corridor has started to work,” Oleh Chalyk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s navy, told Reuters.

“The corridor will be very transparent, we will put cameras on the ships and there will be a broadcast to show that this is purely a humanitarian mission and has no military purpose,” he said.

Biden will ask Congress for $13bn to support Ukraine

Friday 11 August 2023 07:23 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

President Joe Biden will ask Congress to provide more than $13bn in emergency aid to Ukraine, another massive infusion of cash as the Russian invasion wears on and Ukraine pushes a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s deeply entrenched forces.

The last such request from the White House, made in November, was met and then some — Congress approved more than what Biden had requested.

But there’s a different dynamic this time.

A political divide on the issue has grown, with the GOP-led House facing enormous pressure to demonstrate support for the party’s leader Donald Trump, who has been very skeptical of the war. And American support for the effort has been slowly softening.

The White House also is expected to ask for $12bn to replenish federal disaster funds, according to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about a request that had not yet been made public and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

More here.

Biden will ask Congress for $13B to support Ukraine, $12B for disaster fund, an AP source says

Nearly 1,000 Ukrainian marines to return home after training

Friday 11 August 2023 07:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Nearly 1,000 Ukrainian marines are reportedly set to return home after more than six months of training by the UK military forces.

The training was announced by British prime minister Rishi Sunak during the Ukrainian president's visit to the UK in February.

The marines will head to the frontline after being trained in amphibious landings - using inflatable boats to conduct beach raids, Sky News reported.

The commandos were reportedly trained the use of Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons (NLAW) and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

Russian billionaire condemns Putin’s ‘barbaric’ war

Friday 11 August 2023 06:22 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The founder of Russia's largest technology company condemned Moscow's war in Ukraine, in a rare move against president Vladimir Putin.

Arkady Volozh, who left Yandex last year, in a statement called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "barbaric".

"I am categorically against it," he said, adding: " I have to take my share of responsibility for the country’s actions."

The billionaire lives in Israel and has previously faced criticism for not publicly speaking out against the war.

Ukraine asks thousands in Kharkiv to evacuate

Friday 11 August 2023 06:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Authorities in Ukraine have reportedly ordered a mandatory evacuation of nearly 12,000 civilians from 37 towns and villages near the northeastern front line.

Residents have been asked to comply with the evacuation order or sign a document saying they would stay at their own risk, the local military administration in Kharkiv’s Kupiansk district said.

“Given the difficult security situation and the increasing amount of shelling by Russian terrorist forces in Kupiansk community, you have the opportunity to evacuate to a safer place,” the city administration said.

“Do not neglect your safety and the safety of your loved ones,” it said.

Aftermath of Russian rocket strike on Zaporizhzhia

Friday 11 August 2023 05:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ukrainian troops launch surprise raid across Dnipro River

Friday 11 August 2023 05:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ukrainian forces broke through Russia’s defensive lines after launching a surprise raid across the Dnipro River.

The river divides liberated Ukrainian territory on one bank and Russian-occupied land on the other, and for months it has served as part of the front line in southern Ukraine.

Russian military bloggers said that up to seven boats, each carrying up to six troops, arrived on the Russian-occupied bank, apparently under the cover of darkness, and advanced 800m.

Blogger Trinadtsatyi, posting on the Telegram messaging app to more than 150,000 followers, said a number of Russian soldiers were allegedly killed or taken captive during the raid. Images circulating on social media appeared to show captured soldiers.

Chris Stevenson has more.

Ukraine’s troops launch surprise raid across Dnipro River

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