Russia-Ukraine war – live: Putin’s forces ‘dealt a good kick’ after first UK Challenger 2 tank destroyed

The Ukrainian military says Russian forces have been dealt a “good kick” as it claimed advances along several of the war’s frontlines.

“We are pressing our offensive in the Bakhmut sector and our defenders are advancing confidently metre by metre, namely [in] Klishchivka,” Ilya Yevlash, the spokesperson for Ukrainian troops in the east, told national television.

Russian forces halted their advance after being served a “good kick” near the village of Novoyehorivka, he said, referring to a village on heights south of Bakhmut that is seen as critical to recapturing the city.

It comes after Vladimir Putin’s forces destroyed a British Challenger 2 tank for the first time since they were deployed to the battlefield in Ukraine.

A video circulating online appears to show the burning wreck of the tank. It is unclear what caused the explosion.

Britain initially supplied 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine and then doubled that number to 28.

Key Points

• Russian forces ‘blow up first British Challenger 2 tank’ in Ukraine

• Ukraine reports frontline success, says Russians dealt a ‘good kick'

• Russian general ‘Sergei Surovikin pictured alive’

• Cubans trafficked to fight for Russia in Ukraine, says government

• Kim to meet Putin as Russia seeks closer military ties with North Korea

UK Wagner ban: Kremlin says group does not exist as legal entity

11:35 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the Wagner mercenary group did not exist from a legal point of view, after being asked to comment on a British decision to designate it as a terrorist organisation.

Britain’s interior minister Suella Braverman described Wagner, a private militia formerly led by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, as “violent and destructive” and said it acted as a “military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia overseas”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “There’s nothing to comment on. Perhaps one can add only that, legally-speaking, there is no such group.”

Wagner has operated in Syria, Libya and a number of countries across Africa. It recruited thousands of convicts from Russian prisons to fight in Ukraine, providing the main assault force for Russia‘s assault on the city of Bakhmut.

In June this year, it launched a brief mutiny against the army top brass in Russia, condemned as treason by President Vladimir Putin. On Aug. 23 Prigozhin and his top lieutenants were killed when a private jet he used crashed in so-far unexplained circumstances.

Remnants of Wagner’s Russian fighting force are now based in Belarus. It is unclear what will become of the security services it provides to several African countries, including Mali and the Central African Republic.

Drone warfare map reveals how Ukraine is striking Russia hundreds of miles from the frontline

11:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

As drone strikes continue to rain down on Russian soil, Vladimir Putin’s bloody war has reached his own doorstep.

The strikes are now daily and on Tuesday the Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Kaluga and Tver regions, which border the Moscow region, as well as one closer to the capital, over the Istra district.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the drones “were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow“ and that a consumer services facility was damaged in the Istra district, which is located some 65 km (40 miles) northwest of the Kremlin.

Drone map reveals how Ukraine is striking Russia hundreds of miles from the frontline

Kremlin, on Blinken’s Kyiv visit, says US is ready to fund war to ‘the last Ukrainian’

10:53 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin, asked about US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, said it was clear that Washington planned to keep funding Ukraine‘s war effort “until the last Ukrainian.”

Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday in a gesture of support as Ukraine‘s counteroffensive against Russian forces grinds into its fourth month with only small gains.

“We have heard repeated statements that they (the Americans)intend to continue to help Kyiv for as long as it takes,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“In other words, they are going to continue to support Ukraine in a state of war and to wage this war to the last Ukrainian, sparing no money for this. That’s how we perceive it, we know it. It’s not going to affect the course of the special military operation.”

‘Heck of a coincidence’: Shapps on Prigozhin and Wagner

10:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

New defence secretary Grant Shapps has said he is “pleased” that Wagner has been officially declared as a terrorist group by the UK.

He said: “It’s quite clear that they are absolutely ruthless.”

Commenting on the demise of Yevgeny Prigozhin, he added: “It looks like a heck of a coincidence that two months after what happened in Moscow, his plane fell out of the sky.”

Watch the full clip here:

Dodging a constant assault of Russian missiles – the war-weary keep fighting in Ukraine’s blood-soaked east

09:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The missile aimed at the mayor’s office took an estimated 64 seconds to fly 55 miles and detonate in shrapnel and flames after being fired by Russian forces.

Thankfully for Oleksandr Goncharenko, the mayor of Kramatorsk – near the frontline in east Ukraine – it missed the target by 200 metres, hitting a garden square.

The municipal headquarters was swiftly moved to another building for safety. But that building was bombed as well, resulting in a move to yet another location, dodging the missiles coming from the city of Horlivka, which has been captured by Vladimir Putin’s forces.

There is plenty of pride in the cities around the frontline in managing to keep Putin’s forces at bay, writes Kim Sengupta from Druzhkivka. But it has come at the cost of crushing loss:

Dodging Russian missiles, the war weary keep fighting in Ukraine’s blood-soaked east

One killed in Russian air strikes on Kyiv and Odesa

09:12 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia carried out air strikes on Kyiv and the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa early on Wednesday, killing a civilian and causing a fire and damage at a Danube River port, Ukraine‘s military said.

During a nearly three-hour drone attack on Odesa, several agricultural and port facilities were damaged, and several fires were reported in the Izmail district, an important grain exporting hub on the Danube, said regional governor Oleh Kiper.

“An employee of an agricultural enterprise, who was seriously injured, died in the hospital,” Kiper said.

Kiper did not name the port. Agriculture consultancy APK-Inform said there had been a fire at the small Kilia river port.

Ukraine‘s air force said air defence systems destroyed 23 out of the 33 air weapons Russia launched overnight. They included 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones, seven cruise missiles and one Iskander ballistic missile, it said.

Situation remains ‘difficult’ along eastern front, Ukraine commander says

08:22 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The situation along the eastern frontline remains difficult and the main task for Ukraine’s troops is to ensure reliable defence and prevent the loss of strongholds, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on Wednesday.

“The enemy does not abandon his plans to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the ground forces cited Syrskyi as saying on the Telegram messaging app.

“Our main task is to ensure reliable defence, to prevent the loss of our strongholds and positions in the Kupiansk and Lymansk directions, as well as to successfully move forward and reach the designated lines in the Bakhmut direction.”

Armenia says it will stage joint military exercise with US next week

08:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Armenia said on Wednesday it would host a joint military exercise with the United States next week, a development likely to irritate Russia.

The Armenian Defence Ministry said the purpose of the Sept. 11-20 “Eagle Partner 2023” exercise was to prepare its forces to take part in international peacekeeping missions. It did not say how many U.S. and Armenian personnel would be involved.

Russia has a military base in Armenia and sees itself as the pre-eminent power in the South Caucasus region, which until 1991 was part of the Soviet Union.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a weekend interview with an Italian newspaper that Russia had failed to protect Armenia against what he called continuing aggression from Azerbaijan. He suggested that Russia‘s war in Ukraine meant it was unable to meet all Armenia’s security needs.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday he disagreed with Pashinyan’s remarks.

“Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region,” he said. “Russia plays a consistent, very important role in stabilising the situation in this region ... and we will continue to play this role.”

Why Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are desperate for each other’s help

07:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The North Korean leader is said to be planning a possible visit to see the Russian president later this month to discuss weapons for Moscow’s war machine. Given the isolation both men face it is clear they need each other, writes Chris Stevenson:

Analysis: Why Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are desperate for each other’s help

UK says it will declare Russia’s Wagner mercenary group a banned terrorist organisation

07:43 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The UK announced Wednesday it will declare Russia‘s Wagner mercenary group a banned terrorist organisation, saying it remains a threat to global security even after the death of leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The government said an order will be introduced in Parliament to proscribe the group under the Terrorism Act.

The designation, once approved by lawmakers, will bar membership in or support for Wagner, which has played a major fighting role during Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine. It also has operated in Syria and several African nations.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Wagner “has been involved in looting, torture and barbarous murders. Its operations in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa are a threat to global security.”

“They are terrorists, plain and simple - and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law,” she said.

Russia now claims it ‘tactically’ withdrew from Ukraine’s Robotyne, official says

06:52 , Arpan Rai

A Russian-appointed official has claimed that Moscow’s forces “tactically abandoned” the strategic Ukrainian village of Robotyne, more than a week after Kyiv announced its recapture.

The Russian army had withdrawn for tactical reasons, said Yevgeny Balitsky, the top Moscow-installed official in the Zaporizhzhia region.

“The Russian army abandoned – tactically abandoned – this settlement because staying on a bare surface when there is no way to completely dig in... doesn’t generally make sense. Therefore the Russian army moved off into the hills,” news outlet RBC quoted him as saying.

Russia has not previously acknowledged the loss of Robotyne, the recapture of which was announced by Ukraine last week.

Challenger 2 tank likely immobilised by mine, claims defence source

06:38 , Arpan Rai

Defence sources believe the British Challenger 2 tank destroyed in Ukraine was initially immobilised by a mine.

The tank hit a mine which sparked a fire in the rear fuel tank, a Western defence source told the BBC.

Russia has heavily mined the territory it has captured in Ukraine, as well as deploying anti-tank “dragon’s teeth” concrete obstacles, since Ukraine’s Western allies started supplying it with top-tier tanks including the Challenger 2 and Germany’s Leopard.

Four members of the Ukrainian military were evacuated from the tank to safety. But the empty immobilised tank was then targeted by a Russian Lancet loitering drone which completely destroyed it, the defence source said.

While the exact location and time of the tank’s destruction is not known, it is the first verified sighting of a Challenger 2 on the battlefield since they were first supplied by Britain.

UK to declare Wagner Group a terrorist organisation

06:31 , Arpan Rai

Russian mercenary group Wagner will be declared a terrorist organisation and a draft order against the private militia will be laid in parliament on Wednesday, the Home Office said.

Once cleared, the order will make it illegal to be a member of the group or to support it.

The group, formerly led by now-dead Yevgeny Prigozhin, is known to carry out Russia’s dirty work in Syria and Africa, and has also handed Vladimir Putin Russia’s biggest victory of capturing Bakhmut against Ukraine in the continuing invasion.

Assets belonging to Wagner, primarily consisting of contractors and prison convicts, will be declared as terrorist property and will be seized after the draft order is cleared. It will also render certain proscription offences punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

UK to declare Wagner Group a terrorist organisation

Why Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are desperate for each other’s help

04:55 , Arpan Rai

As Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has isolated him on the international stage – and Western sanctions have hit Russia’s economy – the president has been casting around for ways to alleviate the pressure and feed his war machine.

First it was China and President Xi Jinping. Mr Putin has consistently touted his good relationship with Mr Xi and has used that to get an economic lifeline from Beijing. In June, Chinese customs data showed that trade between the two nations was $93.8bn (£74.7bn) from January to May 2023, up 40.7 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

The data also showed that China’s exports to Russia were $43bn (£34bn) from January to May 2023, up 75.6 per cent on the same period the previous year. A report from the Financial Times this week also said that China’s banks are extending billions of dollars of loans to Russian banks.

The bromance is alive and well. But it is clear that Vladimir Putin needs Xi Jingping more than he needs Mr Putin.

Mr Kim would happily take the kind of bromance that Mr Putin believes he has with Mr Xi. The pair are said to have exchanged letters. In June, Mr Kim sent a message to Mr Putin marking Russia’s national day, where he said he would “hold hands” with the Russian leader and that the nation had the full support of North Korea’s people. The Kremlin said last week that Moscow intends to deepen its “mutually respectful relations” with Pyongyang.

Chris Stevenson writes:

Analysis: Why Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are desperate for each other’s help

Ukraine reports frontline success, says Russians dealt a ‘good kick'

04:11 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s military confirmed advances along the frontlines yesterday as the Russian side described “tension” in the southern region of the war-hit nation in an update yesterday evening.

“We are pressing our offensive in the Bakhmut sector and our defenders are advancing confidently metre by metre, namely Klishchivka,” Ilya Yevlash, spokesperson for Ukrainian troops in the east, told national television.

He was referring to a village located on heights south of Bakhmut, seen as critical to recapturing the city.

Russian forces had been dealt “a good kick” near the village of Novoyehorivka which halted their advance, he said.

Almost three months after Ukraine began its counteroffensive to repel Russian forces from its territory, Kyiv has reclaimed several settlements.

Several villages in a southward drive towards the Sea of Azov have been recaptured and Ukraine’s military says it is regaining ground near the eastern city of Bakhmut, seized by Russia in May after months of battles.

The spokesperson said Ukrainian troops had withstood an onslaught further north near Lyman, a town they retook last year.

Saudi Arabia, Russia plan to extend 1.3 million barrel a day oil cut through the end of the year

03:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed Tuesday to extend their voluntary oil production cuts through the end of this year, trimming 1.3 million barrels of crude out of the global market and boosting energy prices.

The dual announcements from Riyadh and Moscow pushed benchmark Brent crude above $90 a barrel in trading Tuesday afternoon, a price unseen in the market since November.

The countries’ moves likely will increase the cost for motorists at gasoline pumps and put new pressure on Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States. President Joe Biden last year warned the kingdom there would be unspecified “consequences” for partnering with Russia on cuts as Moscow wages war on Ukraine.

More here:

Saudi Arabia, Russia plan to extend 1.3 million barrel a day oil cut through the end of the year

ICYMI: Video shows ‘first British Challenger 2 tank destroyed’ in Ukraine

02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

A battlefield video circulating online appears to show the destruction of a British Challenger 2 tank in Ukraine.

The burning wreck of the military vehicle is seen in footage from the frontline and would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat.

In the video, a vehicle with a cracked windscreen drives past as black smoke is seen rising from the roadside, although it is unclear what caused the explosion.

Britain initially supplied 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine and then doubled that number to 28.

Watch:

Video shows ‘first British Challenger 2 tank destroyed’ in Ukraine

ICYMI: Kim Jong-un to hold weapons talks with Putin after ‘travelling to Russia in armoured train’

01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Kim Jong-un is said to be plannning to visit Russia this month to meet Vladimir Putin, as the Russian president seeks weapons to support his invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea’s leader would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet Mr Putin, reported The New York Times.

It is believed that while in Vladivostok, a port city not far from North Korea, the two leaders would discuss Kim sending Russia artillery shells and anti-tank missiles in exchange for Moscow‘s advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, according to US officials.

More here:

Kim Jong-un to hold weapons talks with Putin after ‘travelling in armoured train’

How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?

Wednesday 6 September 2023 00:01 , Eleanor Noyce

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.

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.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine?

Drone warfare map reveals how Ukraine is striking Russia hundreds of miles from the frontline

Tuesday 5 September 2023 23:00 , Eleanor Noyce

As drone strikes continue to rain down on Russian soil, Vladimir Putin’s bloody war has reached his own doorstep.

The strikes are now daily and on Tuesday the Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Kaluga and Tver regions, which border the Moscow region, as well as one closer to the capital, over the Istra district.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the drones “were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow“ and that a consumer services facility was damaged in the Istra district, which is located some 65 km (40 miles) northwest of the Kremlin.

Read more:

Drone map reveals how Ukraine is striking Russia hundreds of miles from the frontline

ICYMI: Russia says southeast Ukraine is now the main focus of fighting in the war

Tuesday 5 September 2023 22:00 , Eleanor Noyce

The Zaporizhzhia region of southeast Ukraine has become the most recent hot spot for battles in the 18-month war, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday, as Kyiv’s forces press ahead with their counteroffensive.

Shoigu told Russian military officers that Ukraine has brought up reserve brigades there that were trained by Kyiv’s Western allies. He offered no evidence for his claim, which could not be independently verified.

Fighting in the southeast could be one of the keys to the war. If Russian defenses there collapse, Ukrainian forces could push southward toward the coast and potentially split Russian forces into two.

More here:

Russia says southeast Ukraine is now the main focus of fighting in the war

ICYMI: British Challenger 2 tank ‘destroyed in Ukraine’ – defence source

Tuesday 5 September 2023 21:30 , Eleanor Noyce

A British tank given to Ukraine has been destroyed during fighting against invading Russian forces, the PA news agency has been told.

A defence source said it was likely the first time a Challenger 2 had been disabled by enemy action.

The last time one of the heavily-armoured battle vehicles had been destroyed is thought to have been during friendly fire in Iraq in 2003.

Read more:

British Challenger 2 tank ‘destroyed in Ukraine’ – defence source

Aid group official warns the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine risks becoming “normalised”

Tuesday 5 September 2023 21:00 , Eleanor Noyce

A major aid group is concerned that there is not enough international attention given to Ukraine and is bracing for fewer donations used to finance operations in the battle-scarred country, its president warned on Tuesday.

The head of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband said, his central concern is that the 19-month war and the resulting humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s invasion and continued attacks on civilian infrastructure are becoming “normalised” by the international community while the needs brought about by the war show no signs of diminishing, he said.

“We know that the 2022 figures for humanitarian aid in Ukraine are not going to be repeated,” he told the Associated Press. Miliband said they don’t expect the donations received from Europe and North America last year to be matched.

Read more:

Aid group official warns the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine risks becoming "normalized"

Woman and two children killed in Yorkshire crash identified as Ukrainian family

Tuesday 5 September 2023 20:30 , Eleanor Noyce

A woman and two children killed in a crash have been identified as three members of a Ukrainian family living in North Yorkshire.

Daria Bartienieva, 35, her son, Ihor Bartienieva, six, and stepdaughter, Anastasiia Bartienieva 15, were killed in a collision involving two cars and a double decker bus on the A61 on Sunday.

Police say Ms Bartienieva and the two children were travelling together in a silver Vauxhall Meriva which was involved in a crash with a bus and a blue Toyota Aygo at about 2.20pm.

The crash happened between South Stainley and Ripley, near Ripon, the North Yorkshire force said.

The two cars were travelling south towards Ripley and the bus was going in the opposite direction.

On Tuesday North Yorkshire Police said the three family members were from Ukraine and living in Ripon.

A force spokesperson previously said: “Sadly, all three occupants of the Vauxhall Meriva...died following the collision.

“The driver of the bus was taken to hospital with leg injuries ... and the two people in the Toyota were not injured.”

The road was closed for emergency services and investigators to attend the scene until 11.30pm.

Romanian villager fears risk of drone straying from across Ukrainian border

Tuesday 5 September 2023 20:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Fishing on the Romanian shore of the Danube on Tuesday, beekeeper Gabi Popescu could see barges loading grain in the Ukrainian river port of Izmail, a day after Russia launched its third overnight strike against port infrastructure.

The attack rattled windows in the Romanian border village of Plauru across the river and Popescu’s trailer shook.

“I counted five explosions, three very powerful ones,” said Popescu, who has been bringing his beehives to Plauru from central Romania for six years.

Ukraine said Russian drones had detonated on the territory of NATO member Romania, a rare report of stray weapons from the war hitting a neighbouring member of the Western military alliance.

Romania strongly denied it had been hit, but the attacks on Ukraine‘s river ports, just hundreds of metres from the Romanian border, have increased security risks for NATO which has a collective defence commitment.

“I can tell you no piece, no drone and no part of a device landed in Romania,” President Klaus Iohannis told reporters on Tuesday. “We have total control over our national space...

“But, yes, we are concerned, because these attacks are taking place very close to the Romanian border. I was ... told today there were verified attacks 800 metres from our border, so very, very close.”

Russia intercepts Ukrainian drone over Belgorod region - defence ministry

Tuesday 5 September 2023 19:38 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian air defences intercepted a Ukrainian drone over the southern region of Belgorod on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said on Telegram.

Why Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are desperate for each other’s help

Tuesday 5 September 2023 19:30 , Eleanor Noyce

As Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine has isolated him on the international stage – and Western sanctions have hit Russia‘s economy – the president has been casting around for ways to alleviate the pressure and feed his war machine.

First it was China and President Xi Jinping. Putin has consistently touted his good relationship with Xi and has used that to get an economic lifeline from Beijing. In June, Chinese customs data showed that trade between the two nations was $93.8 billion (£74.7bn) from January to May 2023, up 40.7 per cent when compared to the same period in 2022 (Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in late February 2022).

Chris Stevenson reports:

Analysis: Why Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are desperate for each other’s help

North Korea will 'pay a price' for giving weapons to Russia - U.S. national security adviser

Tuesday 5 September 2023 19:10 , Eleanor Noyce

North Korea will “pay a price” for providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.

The three reasons Putin will be terrified of Ukraine’s counteroffensive win

Tuesday 5 September 2023 19:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine’s counter-offensive breakthrough will come as a “shock” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, an expert has said.

Mark Galeotti, professor of Slavonic studies at UCL, said Russians had become “complacent” and believed their defence to be more effective than Kyiv’s progress would suggest.

It comes after Ukrainian generals claimed troops had breached Russia’s first line near Zaporizhzhia and were gathering momentum in an offensive many observers claimed had failed.

Alexander Butler reports:

The three reasons Putin will be terrified of Ukraine’s counteroffensive win

The US sent cluster munitions to Ukraine but activists still seek to bolster a treaty banning them

Tuesday 5 September 2023 18:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions, which harm and kill many more civilians than combatants, are striving to prevent erosion in support for the deal after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.

Advocacy groups in the Cluster Munitions Coalition released their latest annual report on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting next week of envoys from the 112 countries that have acceded to or ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the explosives and calls for clearing areas where they litter the ground — often during or after conflicts.

A further 12 countries have signed the convention. The United States and Russia are not among them.

Jamey Keaten reports:

The US sent cluster munitions to Ukraine but activists still seek to bolster a treaty banning them

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Tuesday 5 September 2023 18:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Read more:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

ICYMI: Cluster munition deaths in Ukraine pass Syria, fueling rise in a weapon the world has tried to ban

Tuesday 5 September 2023 17:28 , Eleanor Noyce

More than 300 people were killed and over 600 wounded by cluster munitions in Ukraine in 2022, according to an international watchdog, surpassing Syria as the country with the highest number of casualties from the controversial weapons for the first time in a decade.

Russia’s widespread use of the bombs, which open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets or submunitions as they are called, in its invasion of Ukraine — and, to a lesser extent, their use by Ukrainian forces — helped make 2022 the deadliest year on record globally, according to the annual report released Tuesday by the Cluster Munition Coalition, a network of non-governmental organizations advocating for a ban of the weapons.

The deadliest attack in Ukraine, according to the country’s prosecutor general’s office, was a bombing on a railway station in the town of Kramatorsk that killed 53 people and wounded 135.

More here:

Cluster munition deaths in Ukraine pass Syria, fueling rise in a weapon the world has tried to ban

Ukraine lawmakers back anti-graft disclosure rule, but with loophole

Tuesday 5 September 2023 17:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian lawmakers voted on Tuesday to restore a requirement that officials declare their assets, a measure sought by the International Monetary Fund, but included a loophole critics say dampens its effect.

The mandatory disclosures were introduced in 2016 but were made optional and restricted from public view after Russia’s full-scale invasion last year because they were considered a security risk.

The IMF had singled out the return of the requirement as one of several benchmarks for paying out part of a $15.6 billion assistance package.

Fighting graft is also a requirement for Ukrainian accession to the European Union and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government has declared it a priority alongside the war effort.

Parliament approved a version of the measure requiring officials to declare their assets, lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said, but keeping the disclosures sealed off from the public for another year.

Anti-graft campaigners say keeping the registry closed defeats the primary purpose of the declarations, a key pro-transparency reform introduced after the 2014 Maidan revolution.

“The hidden fortunes of deputies and officials will destroy the trust of Ukrainians. Honest officials have nothing to hide,” the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, a leading Ukrainian NGO, said in a statement.

“The desire to hide one’s property from the public only indicates a desire to steal public money.”

The head of Zelensky’s own party called the bill “an incredible disappointment”. It now goes to the president for approval, and supporters of the reform have urged him to veto it.

Russia says southeast Ukraine is now the main focus of fighting in the war

Tuesday 5 September 2023 16:40 , Eleanor Noyce

The Zaporizhzhia region of southeast Ukraine has become the most recent hot spot for battles in the 18-month war, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday, as Kyiv’s forces press ahead with their counteroffensive.

Shoigu told Russian military officers that Ukraine has brought up reserve brigades there that were trained by Kyiv’s Western allies. He offered no evidence for his claim, which could not be independently verified.

Fighting in the southeast could be one of the keys to the war. If Russian defenses there collapse, Ukrainian forces could push southward toward the coast and potentially split Russian forces into two.

Read more:

Russia says southeast Ukraine is now the main focus of fighting in the war

Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees to be housed at Irish festival site for six weeks

Tuesday 5 September 2023 16:21 , Eleanor Noyce

Tents at the site of an Irish music festival are to be used to house hundreds of Ukrainian refugees for the next six weeks, a junior minister has said.

Over the weekend, 70,000 revellers attended Electric Picnic at Stradbally, Co Laois - but its tents are now to be used to help with a shortage in emergency beds.

The Department of Integration said that due to a drop-off in rooms in the tourism sector and as student accommodation became unavailable ahead of the academic year, it was expected that tents “will be the primary source of accommodation” for new arrivals from Ukraine from this week.

The return to the use of tents comes after the Minister for Children and Integration said in November that Ireland would stop using tents to house refugees.

Military-grade tents at the Gormanston army camp in Co Meath and other locations have been used to house refugees temporarily as more permanent accommodation is sourced.

As of June, 84,613 people have fled to Ireland from the Russian invasion of Ukraine which began in February last year.

The government has sought to address this by procuring beds in hotels and B&Bs, by looking to refurbish unused public buildings, and using rooms pledged by members of the public for a limited time.

Minister of State Ossian Smyth said that 750 Ukrainian refugees were to be moved onto the festival site this week amid what he called a “short-term” squeeze on accommodation options.

Mr Smyth, who has responsibility for public procurement, e-government and the circular economy, has said he is confident other accommodation will be found in six weeks’ time.

“We’ve been using tents in Tullamore in a military facility up to now as a last resort, and in the last four months we’ve had 10,000 Ukrainians arrive in the country,” he told RTE’s Morning Ireland.

“So in other words, the rates they’re arriving has increased.

“We’re now faced with a real short-term difficulty for the next few weeks, and the Government has contracted to take over the tents that were at the Electric Picnic over the weekend.

“And I think that today or tomorrow, up to 750 Ukrainians will be moving into those tents but that’s obviously a very short-term facility...six weeks I would expect.”

Cuba uncovers human trafficking of Cubans to fight for Russia in Ukraine

Tuesday 5 September 2023 16:06 , Eleanor Noyce

Cuba has uncovered a human trafficking ring that coerced its citizens to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry said, adding that Cuban authorities were working to “neutralize and dismantle” the network.

The statement from Cuba’s foreign ministry late on Monday gave few details, but noted the trafficking ring was operating both within the Caribbean island nation, thousands of miles from Moscow, and in Russia.

“The Ministry of the Interior... is working on the neutralization and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine,” the Cuban government statement said.

Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Russia last year announced a plan to boost the size of its armed forces by more than 30% to 1.5 million combat personnel, a lofty goal made harder by its heavy but undisclosed casualties in the war.

In late May, a Russia newspaper in Ryazan city reported that several Cuban citizens had signed contracts with Russia’s armed forces and had been shipped to Ukraine in return for Russian citizenship.

It was not immediately clear if the Cuban foreign ministry statement was associated with the Ryazan report.

Russia, which has strong political ties with communist-run Cuba, has long been an important destination for Cuban migrants seeking to escape economic stagnation at home.

The defense ministers of Cuba and Russia earlier this year discussed the development of joint “technical military” projects at a meeting in Moscow. But the administration of Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel denies any involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

“Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine,” the foreign ministry said late on Monday. “(Cuba) is acting and will act energetically against anyone... who participates in any form of human trafficking for the purpose of recruitment of Cuban citizens as mercenaries to use arms against any country.”

Cuba said it had already begun prosecuting cases in which its citizens had been coerced into fighting in Ukraine.

“Attempts of this nature have been neutralized and criminal proceedings have been initiated against people involved in these activities,” the statement read.

ICYMI: Dodging a constant assault of Russian missiles – the war weary keep fighting in Ukraine’s blood-soaked east

Tuesday 5 September 2023 15:46 , Eleanor Noyce

The missile aimed at the mayor’s office took an estimated 64 seconds to fly 55 miles and detonate in shrapnel and flames after being fired by Russian forces.

Thankfully for Oleksandr Goncharenko, the mayor of Kramatorsk – near the frontline in east Ukraine – it missed the target by 200 metres, hitting a garden square.

There is plenty of pride in the cities around the frontline in managing to keep Putin’s forces at bay, writes Kim Sengupta from Druzhkivka. But it has come at the cost of crushing loss:

Dodging Russian missiles, the war weary keep fighting in Ukraine’s blood-soaked east

Drone warfare map reveals how Ukraine is striking Russia hundreds of miles from the frontline

Tuesday 5 September 2023 15:25 , Eleanor Noyce

As drone strikes continue to rain down on Russian soil, Vladimir Putin’s bloody war has reached his own doorstep.

The strikes are now daily and on Tuesday the Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Kaluga and Tver regions, which border the Moscow region, as well as one closer to the capital, over the Istra district.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the drones “were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow“ and that a consumer services facility was damaged in the Istra district, which is located some 65 km (40 miles) northwest of the Kremlin.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain has more:

Drone map reveals how Ukraine is striking Russia hundreds of miles from the frontline

The US sent cluster munitions to Ukraine but activists still seek to bolster a treaty banning them

Tuesday 5 September 2023 15:10 , Eleanor Noyce

Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions, which harm and kill many more civilians than combatants, are striving to prevent erosion in support for the deal after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.

Advocacy groups in the Cluster Munitions Coalition released their latest annual report on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting next week of envoys from the 112 countries that have acceded to or ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the explosives and calls for clearing areas where they litter the ground — often during or after conflicts.

A further 12 countries have signed the convention. The United States and Russia are not among them.

Read more:

The US sent cluster munitions to Ukraine but activists still seek to bolster a treaty banning them

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman: Ukraine uses Australian drones to attack Russia's territory

Tuesday 5 September 2023 15:03 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine had used Australian drones to attack targets on Russian territory and that Australia was increasingly being drawn into the conflict.

“As it turns out, Australian drones are actually used to strike targets in Russia,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

She was responding to a question about a report in the Sydney Morning Herald last week that Ukrainian had used the Australian drones to attack an airfield in the Russian city of Kursk.

Zakharova accused the Australian government of “enthusiastically contributing to the anti-Russian campaign directed from Washington” while trying to hide from public opinion “the unenviable circumstances indicating that Australia is increasingly being drawn into the conflict in Ukraine“.

ICYMI: Asylum applications in the European Union continue to rise after a major hike last year

Tuesday 5 September 2023 14:52 , Eleanor Noyce

Asylum applications in the European Union continued to rise in the first half of 2023 following a major hike last year, pressuring limited hosting capacities and moving the issue up the political agenda in many nations.

The European Union Agency for Asylum said applications in the 27-nation bloc plus Switzerland and Norway rose 28% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. In all of 2022, applications increased 53%.

“Based on current trends, applications could exceed 1 million by the end of 2023” in the region of about 460 million people, the agency said in a statement.

Raf Casert has more:

Asylum applications in the European Union continue to rise after a major hike last year

Kim Jong Un and Putin may meet. What do North Korea and Russia need from each other?

Tuesday 5 September 2023 14:35 , Eleanor Noyce

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia for a summit with President Vladimir Putin, a U.S. official said, in a trip that would underscore deepening cooperation as the two isolated leaders are locked in separate confrontations with the U.S.

U.S. officials also said that Russia is seeking to buy ammunition from North Korea to refill reserves drained by its war in Ukraine. In return, experts said, North Korea will likely want food and energy shipments and transfers of sophisticated weapons technologies.

A meeting with Putin would be Kim’s first summit with a foreign leader since North Korea closed its borders in January 2020. They met for the first time in April 2019, two months after Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with then-U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed.

Read more:

Kim Jong Un and Putin may meet. What do North Korea and Russia need from each other?

Russian forces destroy first British-supplied Challenger 2 tank in Ukraine, official says

Tuesday 5 September 2023 14:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian forces fighting in southern Ukraine have destroyed a British-supplied Challenger 2 tank for the first time, a Russian-backed official said on Tuesday, releasing what he said was a video of its smouldering wreckage.

Ukraine in March thanked Britain for what it said were the “fantastic machines” after London sent Kyiv 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks ahead of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in part of the southern Zaporizhzhia region which is under Moscow’s control, said on Telegram that a Challenger 2 had been set alight in fighting near the southeastern village of Robotyne.

He said the tank belonged to the Ukrainian army’s 82nd brigade and was meant to have reached Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, but had instead been destroyed on what he said was the first line of Russian defence.

A video Rogov posted on Telegram showed what look like a tank on fire by a roadside with thick grey smoke rising from it.

Reuters could not immediately confirm Rogov’s assertion.

Russia has previously announced that its forces have destroyed German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks and U.S. fighting vehicles along with other hardware supplied to Ukraine by countries such as France and Denmark.

Kremlin says 'nothing to say' on possible visit by North Korea's Kim

Tuesday 5 September 2023 14:15 , Eleanor Noyce

The Kremlin said on Tuesday it had “nothing to say” about claims by U.S. officials that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un planned to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss supplying Moscow with weapons for Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on Monday that arms negotiations between Russia and the North Korea are actively advancing.

“We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia,” she said in a statement.

Her comments came after the New York Times cited unnamed U.S. and allied officials who said Kim plans to travel to Russia as soon as next week to meet Putin.

Asked if he could confirm the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “No, I can’t. There’s nothing to say.”

German arms maker Diehl to ramp up production of IRIS-T air defence system

Tuesday 5 September 2023 14:09 , Eleanor Noyce

German arms maker Diehl Defence aims to significantly ramp up the production of its IRIS-T air defence system to satisfy growing demand due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Chief Program Officer Harald Buschek said on Tuesday.

In 2025, the privately owned company plans to build at least eight systems, up from three to four systems this year, he told reporters at an air base in Todendorf in northern Germany.

He added that missile production was being tripled this year and would be further doubled next year, with an expected output of some 400 to 500 missiles from 2024.

Germany so far has supplied two IRIS-T units to Ukraine, where they are mainly used to guard Kyiv against Russian missile attacks.

Berlin has pledged to supply another six IRIS-T units to Kyiv, and expects to take delivery of the first of six systems for its own air force in October 2024.

Buschek said Ukraine had shot down more than 110 targets, most of these cruise missiles such as the Kalibr, with a hit rate of almost 100%.

The system successfully countered an attack on Kyiv by a swarm of 13 Russian cruise missiles at the start of the year, intercepting all missiles, Buschek said.

In the small town of Todendorf, Berlin will host the training of partner nations on the modern IRIS-T air defence system, one of the most coveted weapons that Kyiv has received from the West.

Boasting a range of some 40 kilometres (25 miles) and a 360 degree view, the IRIS-T SLM system has been used to shoot down cruise missiles that Moscow has attacked power stations with, and aircraft including Iranian-made Shahed drones.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, only a few Western nations had purchased the system, reflecting a common trend after the Cold War to scale down air defences as the main threat from Russia was deemed to have gone.

Now, NATO allies are scrambling to order IRIS-T for their own militaries, with several countries on NATO’s eastern flank such as Estonia and Latvia expected to sign contracts in the coming weeks.

Kremlin dismisses Armenian suggestion that Russia is quitting South Caucasus

Tuesday 5 September 2023 13:52 , Eleanor Noyce

The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected a suggestion by Armenia’s prime minister that Russia had failed to protect Armenia in its standoff with neighbouring Azerbaijan and was winding down its role in the wider South Caucasus.

In an interview with the Italian paper La Repubblica published on Sunday, Nikol Pashinyan accused Russia of failing to ensure Armenia’s security against what he said was aggression from Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Yerevan has repeatedly complained that Russian peacekeepers have for nine months allowed Azerbaijanis to blockade the “Lachin corridor”, the only road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing shortages of food, medicines and other essentials.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Russia, which has a military base in Armenia and has sent peacekeepers to uphold a ceasefire deal, would continue to be a “guarantor of security” in the region.

Pashinyan had said Armenia felt Russia was pulling back from the South Caucasus, which includes Azerbaijan and Georgia. He also suggested that Moscow was unable to meet all Armenia’s security needs because of its own requirements for the war in Ukraine.

“We cannot agree with these [Pashinyan’s] theses,” Peskov said. “Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region...Russia plays a consistent, very important role in stabilising the situation in this region ... and we will continue to play this role.”

North Korean leader Kim's trips abroad by train and private jet

Tuesday 5 September 2023 13:44 , Eleanor Noyce

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to visit Russia’s far-eastern port city of Vladivostok by armoured train this month to meet President Vladimir Putin, possibly to discuss supplying Russia with weapons for its war with Ukraine.

It is likely to take almost a full day to travel more than 1,000 km (600 miles) to Vladivostok across the border with Russia, taking account of the North’s sometimes archaic rail network.

The following are Kim Jong Un’s foreign visits since taking power in 2011:

*25-28 March 2018: Making his first foreign trip as leader, Kim visits China, the North’s main political ally and economic benefactor. He travels to Beijing by a special train and holds a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

*27 April 2018: Kim steps across the inter-Korea border in the Panmunjom truce village for a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. It is the first time a North Korean leader has set foot in the South, Kim’s first summit with a South Korean leader and the third ever by a North Korean leader.

*7-8 May 2018: Kim flies his personal Ilyushin jet to the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian and holds a summit with Xi. The two discuss deepening ties between the traditional allies. The visit comes amid expectations of Kim’s summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

*10-12 June 2018: Kim takes an American-made Boeing 747 operated by Air China on a direct flight from Pyongyang to Singapore for the first summit between North Korea and the United States.

*19-20 June 2018: Kim visits China on his Ilyushin jet and discusses the denuclearisation of North Korea with Xi in Beijing. Accompanied by senior economic aides, Kim tours Chinese industrial facilities and an agricultural research centre.

*7-10 January 2019: Kim visits China for a fourth time, travelling to Beijing by train amid expectations of a second summit with Trump.

*26-28 February 2019: Kim visits the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi for a second summit with Trump. He takes the train from Pyongyang through China over three days to Vietnam. After two days of meetings, the talks between Kim and Trump collapse over disagreement on lifting sanctions imposed on the North and how to dismantle its nuclear programme.

*24 April 2019: Kim visits Vladivostok for his first summit with Putin. Kim takes the train for the nearly day-long trip, crossing the Tumen River border into Russia.

*30 June 2019: Kim steps across the inter-Korean border for talks with Trump.

*September 2023: Kim is expected to visit Vladivostok, again by train, for a summit with Putin, which would be his first trip abroad in more than four years.

One killed by shelling in Russia's Belgorod region - governor

Tuesday 5 September 2023 13:38 , Eleanor Noyce

One person was killed and one wounded as result of shelling by Ukrainian forces on Tuesday in Russia’s Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote in the Telegram messaging app.

Belgorod has come under frequent cross-border fire in the course of the 18-month war. Ukraine typically does not comment on attacks inside Russia.

Ukrainian parliament paves way for Rustem Umerov as next defence minister

Tuesday 5 September 2023 13:15 , Alexander Butler

The Ukrainian parliament approved the dismissal of Rustem Umerov as the Head of the State Property Fund, a lawmaker said, paving a way for his likely appointment as defence minister.

Umerov’s removal was supported by a majority of members of the Verkhovna Rada, deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on the Telegram messaging app after a vote.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he was dismissing Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and proposed Umerov, a Crimean Tatar and ex-lawmaker, to replace him.

Russia's foreign minister Lavrov to visit Bangladesh ahead of G20 meeting

Tuesday 5 September 2023 13:10 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be on a two-day visit to Dhaka ahead of the G20 meeting in New Delhi, government officials said, a move seen as part of Moscow’s efforts to strengthen bilateral ties with the South Asian country.

Lavrov will hold a meeting with Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Abdul Momen on Sept. 7 and call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the next day before leaving for the G20 conference in New Delhi with a delegation, government officials said.

“All bilateral issues including (payments for) the nuclear power plant, trade, and energy will be discussed during the visit,â€Â said a senior Bangladesh foreign ministry official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to talk to media.

During the talks, the prospects for bilateral co-operation between the countries will be discussed, and “an exchange of views on the most pressing regional and international issues is planned,” Maria Zakharova, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, told reporters during her weekly press briefing on Tuesday.

Before visiting Bangladesh, Lavrov will attend the 18th East Asia summit in Jakarta.

Bangladesh is constructing the first of two nuclear power plants in collaboration with Russia’s state-owned atomic company Rosatom in a $12.65 billion project, 90% of which is financed through a Russian loan repayable within 28 years, with a 10-year grace period.

Russian forces ‘blow up first British Challenger 2 tank’ in Ukraine

Tuesday 5 September 2023 13:05 , Eleanor Noyce

A battlefield video circulating online appears to show the destruction of a British Challenger 2 tank in Ukraine.

The burning wreck of the military vehicle is seen in footage from the frontline and would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat.

In the video, a vehicle with a cracked windscreen drives past as black smoke is seen rising from the roadside, although it is unclear what caused the explosion.

Britain initially supplied 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine and then doubled that number to 28.

Russian forces ‘blow up first British Challenger 2 tank’ in Ukraine

US nuclear weapons in Britain would be ‘escalation’, Russia says

Tuesday 5 September 2023 13:00 , Alexander Butler

The return of US nuclear weapons to Britain would be an “escalation” and “destabilising practice”, according to Russia’s foreign ministry.

It comes as the US air force secured £39m in funding next year for a project that could pave the way for American nuclear weapons to return to British soil for the first time in more than 15 years.

Kremlin has ‘nothing to say’ about North Korea meeting

Tuesday 5 September 2023 11:18 , Alexander Butler

The Kremlin has ‘nothing to say’ on reports Russian President Vladimir Putin would be meeting North Korea’s Kim Jong Un this month.

“We have nothing to say on this topic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Russian general ‘Sergei Surovikin pictured alive’

Tuesday 5 September 2023 09:46 , Alexander Butler

A Russian general has been pictured for the first time after he disappeared following the Wagner Group’s aborted mutiny in June.

A new photo was posted to Russian social media claiming to show a photo of Sergei Surovikin, who dissapeared following the aborted coup.

Mr Surovikin was reportedly close to Wagner leader Yevgeny Prighozin, who was killed in a plane crash near Moscow last month.

The image, posted to Telegram, shows a man in sunglasses and a cap walking alongside a woman resembling Surovikin’s wife, Anna.

“General Sergei Surovikin is out. Alive, healthy, at home, with his family, in Moscow. Photo taken today,” the caption read.

Ukraines’s breakthrough will come as a ‘shock’ to Russian leadership

Tuesday 5 September 2023 09:09 , Alexander Butler

Ukraine’s counter-offensive breakthrough will come as a “shock” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, an expert has said.

Mark Galeotti, professor of Slavonic studies at UCL, said Russians had become “complacent” and believed their defence to be more effective than Kyiv’s progress would suggest.

It comes after Ukrainian generals claimed troops had breached Russia’s first line near Zaporizhzhia and were gathering momentum in an offensive many observers claimed had failed.

Professor Galeotti explained there were three aspects to Ukraine’s counteroffensive gains that would particularly concern the Russian leadership.

Russia says it destroyed a Ukrainian drone over Crimea

Tuesday 5 September 2023 08:51 , Alexander Butler

Russian air defences destroyed a Ukrainian aeroplane-style drone over Crimea on Tuesday morning, the Russian defence ministry said.

Yesterday, Ukraine reported up to 30 Russian Iranian-made Shahed drones were used in an attack on the port city of Odesa.

Russian authorities plan to hold ‘unfree’ elections in occupied Ukraine, MoD says

Tuesday 5 September 2023 08:30 , Alexander Butler

Russian authorities will hold elections with “Kremlin-endorsed” parties in occupied areas of Ukraine next week, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The MoD’s intelligence report said authorities would hold elections between 8 and 10 September, in parallel with those going ahead in the Russian federation.

But the report said: “While over 1,000 candidates have been identified, there is a lack of qualified, experienced and willing candidates.

“There is also an abscence of independent candidates that are not members of the Kremlin-endorsed parties, indicating that these will not be free or fair elections.”

The election is being held in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia has lost 265,680 troops in Ukraine, general staff claims

Tuesday 5 September 2023 07:55 , Alexander Butler

The Russian military has lost 265,680 troops in Ukraine, according to The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

It claimed Russia had lost the troops since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has also lost 4,489 tanks, 8,670 armored fighting vehicles, 8,175 vehicles and fuel tanks, 5,649 artillery systems, 747 multiple launch rocket systems, 504 air defense systems, 315 airplanes, 316 helicopters, 4,512 drones, and 19 boats, according to its report.

Moscow’s major airports shut down operations, resume shortly after

Tuesday 5 September 2023 07:27 , Arpan Rai

Moscow’s two major airports Vnukovo and Sheremetevo, as well as the Zhukovksy airport resumed normal operations from 7.30am after a temporary traffic suspension in the early hours today, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said.

Earlier, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces shot down at least three Ukraine-launched drones that were targeting the country’s capital.

Olena Zelenska details emotional toll of war on family: ‘Living separately, need my husband’

Tuesday 5 September 2023 06:53 , Arpan Rai

Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, divulged the personal side of her life and the emotional toll Russia’s full-scale invasion on the country took on the leader and his family.

She said she was aware it could be a “bit selfish” but she needed her husband, not the political figure, by her side.

As soon as Russia entered Ukraine’s territory, the first lady and her kids went underground in secret locations and the days were filled with a “constant feeling of adrenaline”, she told the BBC.

“We don’t live together with my husband, the family is separated. We have the opportunity to see each other but not as often as we would like. My son misses his father. But we stay strong, we have strength both emotionally and physically. And I am sure we will handle it together,” Ms Zelenska said.

The Russian war, which Vladimir Putin calls a “special military operation” and has claimed thousands of lives and left millions displaced, has served an emotional blow to the family’s children.

Ms Zelenska said she is pained to watch her kids not being able to plan their lives. Her 19-year-old daughter does not have the opportunity to leave the country. Ms Zelenska said her children “dream of travelling, of new sensations and emotions”.

“There are limitations in time in what you can allow yourself, they exist, and we somehow try to live within them,” she told the BBC.

Last month, speaking to The Independent, she had opened up about the concerns she has for Ukraine and her family, with her and her husband being forced to live separately for security reasons – so the president rarely gets the chance to see their children.

“I want to be together again. We really hope that somehow all this will change and we will be able to live a more or less normal family life,” she said.

Kim to meet Putin as Russia seeks closer military ties with North Korea

Tuesday 5 September 2023 05:31 , Arpan Rai

Kim Jong-un plans to travel to Russia and meet Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying Moscow with weapons for the war in Ukraine, amid Moscow’s push to seek closer military ties with North Korea.

In a rare trip abroad, Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet Putin, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing US and allied sources.

While in Vladivostok, a port city not far from North Korea, the two leaders would discuss Kim’s sending Russia artillery shells and antitank missiles in exchange for Moscow’s advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the newspaper reported.

At a time when the United States has expressed concern about growing military ties between the two countries, the news of Kim’s planned visit came after Russia said it was discussing holding joint military exercises with North Korea.

Cubans trafficked to fight for Russia in Ukraine, says government

Tuesday 5 September 2023 04:29 , Arpan Rai

Cuban citizens are being trafficked to fight for Russia in its war in Ukraine, the country’s foreign ministry said.

A human trafficking operation was being run by criminals working in both the Caribbean island nation and thousands of miles away in Russia, the Cuban government said.

Authorities are now working to “neutralise and dismantle” the network.

A Cuban government statement read: “The Ministry of the Interior is working on the neutralisation and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine.”

Russia has yet to comment on these allegations.

Russia downs drones in Moscow, other regions in early morning attacks

Tuesday 5 September 2023 04:07 , Arpan Rai

Russia claims to have shot down Ukraine-launched drones in Moscow’s Istra district and another in Kaluga region in the early hours today.

“Tonight, air defence forces destroyed drones in the Kaluga region and in the Istra region that were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow. Emergency services are on the scene,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

He later added that a household object was damaged as a result of fallen debris in Moscow and emergency services are “working to eliminate the consequences”.

Another drone was destroyed in the Tver region in the Zavidovo area, which the mayor claimed was flying in the direction of Moscow.

The Russian defence ministry said the three drones were either destroyed or intercepted before they could hit their targets.