Ukraine-Russia war – live: Russian missile system ‘destroyed’ in Crimea as Putin’s ‘General Armageddon’ fired

Ukraine has destroyed a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system in occupied Crimea, Kyiv claims.

Russia and Ukraine traded drone attacks early Wednesday. Kyiv targeted Moscow again and the Kremlin’s forces launched another attack on Ukrainian grain storage depots

But later in the day, the Ukrainian intelligence agency claimed it destroyed a Russian S-400 missile system.

The agency, known by its acronym GUR, claimed on its official Telegram channel that Russia has a “limited number” of the sophisticated systems and that the loss “is a painful blow.”

Moscow officials made no immediate comment.

Meanwhile, Russia appointed a new acting head of its aerospace forces to replace Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed “General Armageddon”, who vanished from view after a Wagner mercenary mutiny against the top brass, the RIA state news agency reported on Wednesday.

During the revolt in June, Surovikin, who once commanded Russia’s overall war effort in Ukraine, appeared in a video, looking strained and without insignia, urging Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to abandon his march on Moscow.

His reported removal suggests the authorities found fault with his behaviour, but the details of his alleged wrongdoing remain unknown.

Key Points

• Ukrainian troops gain foothold in strategic Robotyne village

• Ukraine steps up attacks on Russia’s planes and airfields

• US does not think Ukraine conflict is a stalemate

• Drone hits under-construction building in Moscow

• Moscow closes air space as Ukrainian drone hits capital region

• Ukrainian drone strikes apartments near Moscow, leaves windows ‘shaking’

• Russia's 'General Armageddon' reportedly dismissed after vanishing in wake of Wagner uprising

Wagner chief ‘onboard’ crashed plane

18:13 , Matt Drake

A private jet that crashed in the Tver region had Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on board, according to reports.

Prigozhin spearheaded a revolt during June 23-34 against the Kremlin, which Russian President Vladimir Putin said could have pushed the country into civil war.

After his failed mutiny, Prigozhin was given sanctuary in Belarus.

But according to reports from the TASS news agency, the Russian Civil Aviation Authority has said the warlord was on the list of passengers onboard a crashed plane.

How many F-16 jets will Ukraine get?

18:00 , Matt Drake

The Netherlands and Denmark have led a push to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s and deliver the fighter jets to Ukraine to help counter Russia’s air superiority.

Denmark will deliver 19 jets in total with the initial six due around the end of the year, followed by eight in 2024 and five in 2025, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Aug 20.

The Netherlands has 42 F-16s available but has yet to decide whether all of them will be donated.

Zelenskiy called the donation a “breakthrough agreement” and said the planes would strengthen Ukraine’s air defences and help its counter-offensive against Russian forces.

US officials have privately said F-16s would have been of little help to Ukraine in its current push and will not be a game changer when they eventually arrive given Russian air defence systems and contested skies over Ukraine.

Poland and Slovakia have supplied 27 MiG-29s to supplement Ukraine’s fleet of combat aircraft.

Top EU official warns West needs to act to avoid losing developing world's trust

17:30 , Matt Drake

The head of the European Union’s powerful lending arm has warned the West is at risk of losing the confidence of the global south unless it urgently intensifies its own support efforts.

Werner Hoyer, the European Investment Bank’s President, said this week’s BRICS summit in South Africa and a push to make the group’s New Development Bank - known as the BRICS bank - an alternative to established Western multilateral lenders, underscored the need to significantly increase lending.

“It should be a cause for concern that an increasing number of smaller developing world countries, especially in Africa, are looking to countries like China and other emerging market nations to give them support rather than the traditional Western institutions,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer’s comments are the most forceful yet by a high-ranking EU official on the efforts of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - to expand the bloc and turn it into a global counterweight to the West.

He said the number of developing nations that had adopted a neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year also signalled the challenge the West faced in maintaining the trust of those nations.

Brazilian President says BRICS working to end Ukraine war and criticises UN

16:30 , Matt Drake

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday that BRICS countries were engaged with Ukraine and Russia in efforts to end the war. He also criticised the United Nations Security Council’s limitations in dealing with the conflict.

Speaking at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, Mr Lula said an increasing number of countries, among them BRICS members, were engaged in direct contact with Moscow and Kyiv.

He said: “We stand ready to join an effort that can effectively contribute to a prompt ceasefire and a just and lasting peace.

“The war in Ukraine highlights the limitations of the UN Security Council.”

Russia says fighter jet intercepts Norwegian plane over Barents Sea

16:00 , Matt Drake

A Russian fighter jet intercepted a Norwegian military plane over the Barents Sea on Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry claimed.

It said the Norwegian aircraft, a US-made P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane, was nearing the Russian border but turned back after being approached by the Russian MiG-29 fighter.

Tensions between Russia and NATO, of which Norway is a member, are at their highest for decades because of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

15:30 , Matt Drake

Russia said on Wednesday it had thwarted the latest Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow but that three people were killed in a separate drone strike on a health facility near the Ukrainian border.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which is near Ukraine and has come under frequent attack, said a drone had hit a sanatorium in a village, while another had been shot down. He said two people had died on the spot and doctors were unable to save the life of a third person.

Separately, the governor of Kaluga region, south of Moscow, said another Ukrainian drone had been shot down without causing casualties or damage.

Zelenskiy says Ukraine will end Russian occupation of Crimea

15:00 , Matt Drake

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Wednesday to end Russia’s occupation of the Crimea peninsula and all other areas that Moscow controls in his country.

Speaking to an international conference about Crimea which he said was being attended by more than 60 countries, Mr Zelenskiy said: “Crimea will be de-occupied like all other parts of Ukraine that are unfortunately still under the occupier.”

Crimea was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014 in a move not recognised by most other countries, and Russia seized other parts of Ukraine in the full-scale invasion it launched in February 2022.

Ukraine began a counteroffensive in early June to try to regain the territory occupied by Russia.

Ukraine takes out key Russian missile defence system

14:58 , Matt Drake

The Ukrainian intelligence agency has claimed to have destroyed a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system in occupied Crimea.

If confirmed, it would be another embarrassing blow for Moscow, as Ukraine increasingly targets Russia’s assets far behind the front line in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Moscow officials made no immediate comment.

The long-range S-400 missiles are capable of striking enemy aircraft and are regarded as one of the best such systems available. They have a range of 250 miles (400km) and can simultaneously engage multiple targets.

Update: Four killed in Russian attack on Ukrainian school

14:30 , Matt Drake

Four educational workers were killed and four other people were hurt in a Russian attack on a school in the city of Romny in northeastern Ukraine on Wednesday, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Previously The Independent reported that the death toll was two people but this has since risen.

Mr Klymenko said the bodies of the school director, deputy director, secretary and a librarian had been pulled from the rubble by rescue workers.

He said four local residents were injured as they had been passing the school in Romny, which is part of the Sumy region.

Photos shared by Klymenko on the Telegram messaging app showed emergency workers carrying away a body on a stretcher.

“The school building was destroyed, and this is just before the school year, which unfortunately will never start for some,” Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram.

ICYMI: UK energy minister in Kyiv announces £192m for Ukraine nuclear fuel purchases

14:00 , Maanya Sachdeva

Britain will guarantee a £192m ($245m) export finance deal for Ukraine to buy nuclear fuel from producers including British companies, British energy minister Grant Shapps announced during a visit to Kyiv.

Ukraine‘s energy system was severely damaged by a massed campaign of Russian air strikes last winter, making it more reliant on its ageing nuclear power stations, which supplied about half the country’s power before the war.

“This guarantee that we will be providing is to help Ukraine ensure that ... their nuclear fuel doesn’t have to come via Russia in future,” Mr Shapps told Reuters.

“This money will guarantee that it will come from much more secure sources.”

He said that one of those sources would be Urenco, a part-British nuclear fuel consortium.

Ukraine currently controls three of its four active nuclear plants.

The fourth, in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, was captured by Russia last March. Both sides have since repeatedly accused each other of endangering the facility’s safety.

Putin uses BRICS summit to justify Russia's war in Ukraine

13:30 , Maanya Sachdeva

President Vladimir Putin used a speech at the BRICS summit in New Delhi, India on Wednesday to repeat a number of what have become his rhetorical greatest hits – all aimed at defending Russia‘s war in Ukraine while trying to undermine the West by blaming them for the invasion.

That is despite it being Mr Putin’s own decision to send his troops into Ukraine.Speaking by video link to leaders of the group, he reiterated the Kremlin narrative that his invasion, condemned by Ukraine and the West as an imperialist land grab, was a forced response by Russia to Kyiv’s and Washington’s hostile actions.

“Our actions in Ukraine are dictated by only one thing – to end the war that was unleashed by the West and its satellites against the people who live in the Donbas,” Mr Putin said, referring to the eastern part of Ukraine where Russian proxies have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014.

“I want to note that it was the desire to maintain their hegemony in the world, the desire of some countries to maintain this hegemony that led to the severe crisis in Ukraine.”

Mr Putin was speaking to a small forum of countries that have refrained from condemning Russia‘s actions in Ukraine, unlike a majority of nations including the US, UK, Germany, France, Norway, Turkey, and Italy.

Russia's 'General Armageddon' reportedly dismissed after vanishing in wake of Wagner uprising

12:56 , Maanya Sachdeva

General Sergei Surovikin, a former commander of Russia‘s forces in Ukraine who was linked to the leader of an armed rebellion, has been dismissed from his job as chief of the air force, according to Russian state media.

The report Wednesday came after weeks of uncertainty about his fate following the short-lived uprising.

Read more here:

Russia's 'General Armageddon' reportedly dismissed after vanishing in wake of Wagner uprising

Russia 'destroys 13,000 tons of grain at Ukrainian Danube river port of Izmail’

12:28 , Maanya Sachdeva

A Russian drone attack on the Danube River port of Izmail in southern Ukraine on Wednesday destroyed 13,000 tons of grain, Ukrainian deputy prime ,inister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

Kubrakov said on the Telegram messaging app that the port’s export capacity had been reduced by 15 per cent by the overnight strike, and added: “Russia is systematically hitting grain silos and warehouses to stop agricultural exports.”

Russia did not immediately comment on the overnight strikes.

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

11:43 , 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.

Below we track Wagner’s involvement in the invasion of Ukraine and their infamous- but failed- march to Moscow:

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

Pictures show gaping windows of damaged building in Moscow

11:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Pictures show workers clean a part of a damaged skyscraper in the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow.

Putin tells BRICS that Russia wants to end war 'unleashed by West'

11:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian President Vladimir Putin told a summit of the BRICS group on Wednesday that Russia wanted to end a war he said had been “unleashed by the West and its satellites” in Ukraine.

Speaking by video link to leaders of the group, who have refrained from condemning Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, he repeated the Kremlin narrative that the war was a forced response to actions by Kyiv and the West.

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said to be recruiting Wagner 'strongmen' for Africa

10:58 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday published his first recruitment video for the Wagner Group since organizing a short-lived mutiny against defense officials in Russia, according to information on Russian social media channels.

Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight in June with a dramatic, short-lived rebellion that posed the most serious threat to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian leader’s 23-year rule. The Wagner founder long benefited from Putin’s powerful patronage, including while he built a private army that fought for Russian interests abroad and participated in some of the deadliest battles of the war in Ukraine.

In the video, which was posted on Telegram messaging app channels which are believed to be affiliated with Prigozhin, a person who appears to be the 62-year-old mercenary leader says the Wagner Group is conducting reconnaissance and search activities, and “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free.”

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said to be recruiting Wagner 'strongmen' for Africa

Two killed in Russian attack on Ukrainian school - interior minister

10:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Two educational workers were killed and three other people wounded in a Russian attack on a school in the city of Romny in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Wednesday.

He said two people were still under the rubble.

Ukrainian troops evacuate civilians from Robotyne as troops gain foothold

10:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukraine steps up attacks on Russia’s planes and airfields – and boasts of gains on the battlefield

09:35 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian saboteurs coordinated by Kyiv’s military intelligence services are said to have carried out drone attacks on airfields deep inside Russia – one of which appears to have destroyed a supersonic Russian bomber.

It is one of a number of recent assaults on Russia and its military hardware, as well as drone attacks on Moscow. The latest such attack on the capital came overnight into Tuesday.

Responding to the attack on the Russian airfields, British military intelligence said that the weekend attack is highly likely to have destroyed a nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bomber. Kyiv says Russia has used the Tu-22M3 to bomb targets across Ukraine with conventional munitions. Western military experts believe Russia has around 60 of the aircrafts.

Ukraine steps up attacks on Russia’s planes and airfields

Russia appoints new aerospace forces chief after incumbent vanished during mercenary mutiny

08:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia has appointed a new acting head of its aerospace forces to replace General Sergei Surovikin, who vanished from sight after a brief Wagner mercenary mutiny against the top brass in June, the state RIA news agency reported on Wednesday.

During the June 23-24 revolt, Surovikin, who once commanded Russia‘s overall war effort in Ukraine - something Moscow calls a “special military operation” - appeared in a video, looking uncomfortable and without insignia, urging Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to stand down.

Since the mutiny, which was ended by negotiations and a deal, unconfirmed Russian and foreign news outlets have said that Surovikin was being investigated for possible complicity in the revolt and being held under house arrest.

“Ex-chief of the Russian Air and Space Forces Sergei Surovikin has now been relieved of his post, while Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, head of the Main Staff of the Air Force, is temporarily acting as commander-in-chief of the Air Force,” an unnamed source told RIA.

Surovikin earned the nickname “General Armageddon” during Russia‘s military intervention in Syria.

He was placed in charge of Russian military operations in Ukraine last October, but in January that role was handed to General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff, and Surovikin was made a deputy to Gerasimov.

Russia says drone attack on Moscow thwarted but 3 killed near Ukrainian border

08:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia said on Wednesday it had thwarted the latest Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow but three people were killed in a drone strike near the Ukrainian border.

The governor of Belgorod region, which neighbours Ukraine and has come under frequent attack, said the drone hit a sanatorium in a village. He said two people had died on the spot and doctors had been unable to save the life of the third.

The attempted attack in Moscow was not reported to have hurt anyone and only appeared to have caused minor damage. It was the latest in a surge of similar incidents, and once again forced Moscow’s airports to briefly suspend flights as a precaution.

The Defence Ministry said air defence forces near the capital had shot down two drones over the Moscow region’s Mozhaisky and Khimki districts.

It said a third had been jammed and lost control - but it nevertheless hit a high-rise building under construction in a Moscow business district. The same district, known as Moscow City, was hit twice in three days at the start of the month.

The state TASS news agency reported that glass planes on three floors of the high-rise building had been damaged. Unverified videos on social media showed minor damage from the two other drones which had been destroyed.

Ukraine says air defences shot down 11 of 20 drones launched by Russia overnight

08:09 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian air defences shot down 11 out of 20 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks, the air force said on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian military and local officials said Russia had carried out attacks in the southern region of Odesa and in the Danube River area, which is important for grain exports, causing fires in grain facilities.

Three civilians killed in drone strike on Russia's Belgorod region

07:46 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The governor of Russia‘s Belgorod region said on Tuesday that three civilians had been killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on a sanatorium in the village of Lavy, close to the Ukrainian border.

Damage to crucial bridge between Ukraine and Crimea to hit Russia’s logistics, says UK MoD

07:01 , Arpan Rai

Russia’s logistics will be impacted by the damage to permanent bridges connecting southern Ukraine and Crimea, the British Ministry of Defence said today.

“As of mid-August 2023, Russian forces were continuing to employ pontoon bridges at Chonhar and Henichesk crossing points on the border between southern Ukraine and occupied Crimea. Both permanent bridges sustained damage from Ukrainian precision strikes in early August 2023,” the ministry said.

It added that the pontoon bridges are “unlikely to be able to fully sustain the flow of heavy vehicles carrying ammunition and weaponry to the front”.

“The resulting bottlenecks mean Russian forces are partially reliant on a long diversion via Armiansk, northern Crimea. This is adding further friction to Russia’s logistics network in the south,” the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.

Russia attacks grain facilities in Ukraine, says military

06:31 , Arpan Rai

Russian forces have targeted Ukraine’s southern Odesa and Danube River regions, a key area for grain exports, in overnight attacks.

The strikes sparked fires in grain storage facilities, the Ukrainian military and local authorities said today.

“The enemy hit grain storage facilities and a production and trans-shipment complex in Danube region. A fire broke out in the warehouses and was quickly contained. Firefighters continue to work,” the military said on their Telegram channel.

Netherlands to supply Ukraine with a thousand chargers for remote demining

06:07 , Arpan Rai

The Netherlands will provide Ukraine a thousand chargers for remote demining, Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren said on a visit to Kyiv.

The announcement coincides with heavily mined Russian defence lines slowing down a Ukrainian counteroffensive to recapture territory seized by Russia since its forces invaded in February 2022.

“There is a decision to provide about a thousand portable chargers for remote demining that can make passageways in engineered barriers,” Ms Ollongren was quoted as saying on the Ukrainian defence ministry website at a meeting with Ukrainian minister Oleksiy Reznikov.

“Now, as I know, you are facing the problem of extremely dense mining of territories,” she said.

Ukrainian troops gain foothold in strategic Robotyne village

04:58 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian troops have gained a foothold in the southeastern village of Robotyne on the road to Tokmak, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said.

The village is an occupied rail hub whose recapture would be a milestone in Kyiv’s southward drive to reach the Sea of Azov. The next major settlement is the big regional city of Melitopol.

However, the deputy minister warned that the counteroffensive should not be compared with either Ukraine’s rapid recapture of land in the eastern region of Kharkiv last year or its success in driving Russian troops out of the city of Kherson in the southwest, because each battlefield situation is unique.

“When Kherson was liberated, remember that the armed forces were creating the conditions in order to more or less swiftly liberate it later,” she said.

Drone hits under construction building in Moscow

04:46 , Arpan Rai

One of the drones in Russia fell into a building under construction at the Moscow City Complex, officials said.

Several windows were damaged in two nearby buildings, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, adding that the emergency services were inspecting the area.

The drone was jammed by electronic warfare systems, after which it lost control and collided with the building, the Russian defence ministry said.

The prestigious business towers have been struck by drones twice before

The Russian defence ministry has blamed the attack on Ukraine and said two other drones were shot down by air defence systems in the Mozhaisk and Khimki areas of the Moscow region.

Three dead after Russian shelling of Donetsk region, Ukraine says

04:30 , Matt Drake

Three people were killed and two were injured as a result of Russian shelling of several villages in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the prosecutor general’s office said on Tuesday evening. According to the prosecutors, all three people, two women and a man, were killed in the village of Torske at around 1850 local time (1550 GMT).

The prosecutors provided no further detail of the attack.

Moscow shuts airspace over major airports after Ukrainian drone attacks

04:02 , Arpan Rai

Moscow airports suspended flights early today, Russia’s TASS news agency reported citing unnamed officials.

Major airports around the Russian capital repeatedly closed for departing and arriving flights in recent days due to Ukrainian drone attacks.

Russia says military downed three drones that tried to attack Moscow

03:57 , Arpan Rai

The Russian defence ministry said the country’s air defence systems downed three drones that tried to attack Moscow.

One of them was jammed and hit a building in central Moscow, and two more were shot down by air defence systems to the west of the Russian capital, the military said.

This is the third consecutive night Russia has come under drone attack.

US says Ukrainian strikes inside Russia not supported

03:44 , Arpan Rai

Any attacks inside Russia are not encouraged or enabled by the United States, a US State Department spokesperson said after Moscow witnessed consecutive drone attacks this week, as similar attacks on the Russian territory have increased in the past few months.

It is up to Ukraine to decide how it chooses to defend itself from the Russian invasion that began in February last year, the State Department spokesperson said, adding Russia could end the war any time by withdrawing from Ukraine.

Drone strikes on the Russian capital have become increasingly common in recent months.

These strikes, including deep inside Russia, have increased since two unmanned aircraft were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.

The United States, which has supplied Ukraine with massive assistance in the form of weapons and other military equipment to combat the Russian invasion, has consistently said it does not support attacks inside Russia.

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said to be recruiting Wagner 'strongmen' for Africa

03:30 , Matt Drake

Mercenary group Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has shared his first video address two months after he launched a failed coup attempt against Vladimir Putin.

Mr Prigozhin is seen in the video toting an assault rifle and wearing military fatigues, with his comments suggesting the clip was shot in an unnamed African country.

The Wagner boss says during the clip that he is recruiting “strongmen” and said the group will “fulfil the tasks that were set” by the Russian government.

The video was shared on Telegram channels affiliated with the Wagner group, as Mr Prigozhin said the mercenary group was “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free”.

Read the full report below.

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said to be recruiting Wagner 'strongmen' for Africa

Russia scrambles jets to force reconnaissance drones off Crimea -defence ministry

01:30 , Matt Drake

Russia’s air force scrambled two jets to force two drones to stop reconnaissance near the Crimean peninsula, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday.

“On August 22, the flight of two unmanned aerial vehicles MQ-9 Reaper and TB2 Bayraktar carrying out aerial reconnaissance in the area of the Crimean Peninsula was recorded over the Black Sea by means of the airspace control of the Russian Aerospace Forces,” the ministry said.

According to the statement, Russia scrambled two jets forcing the drones “to change the direction of the flight and leave the areas of aerial reconnaissance”.

Shapps visits Kyiv as UK announces support for Ukraine's nuclear energy supply

Wednesday 23 August 2023 00:30 , Matt Drake

UK Government support for Ukraine's nuclear fuel supply will help end the country's reliance on Russian supplies, Secretary of State for Energy Grant Shapps said after a trip to a Ukrainian power station.

The Government has announced its intention to provide a £192 million loan guarantee through UK Export Finance (UKEF) - the UK's export credit agency - enabling UK-headquartered Urenco to supply Ukraine's national nuclear company, Energoatom, with uranium enrichment services, which are vital for nuclear fuel.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that, once provided, the support will bring the UK's non-military financial assistance to Ukraine close to £5 billion.

Mr Shapps said: "Our support for Ukraine is unwavering in the face of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's barbaric invasion - the UK continues to stand with Ukraine as they repel Russian attacks and rebuild their country.

"Being here on the ground, it's truly remarkable witnessing first-hand the sheer courage, resolve and gritty determination of the Ukrainian people.

"Putin has used energy as a weapon of war: the action today to support nuclear fuel deliveries will help Ukraine end their reliance on Russian supplies and bolster their energy security."

Russia's Putin stays away over arrest warrant as leaders of emerging economies meet in South Africa

Tuesday 22 August 2023 23:30 , Matt Drake

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be notably absent when Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders from the BRICS group of emerging economie s start a three-day summit in South Africa on Tuesday.

The bloc, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is holding its first in-person meeting since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but Putin will participate via video call after his travel to South Africa was complicated by an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued for him in March over the abduction of children from Ukraine.

Xi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend in person as the bloc -- home to 40% of the world’s population and responsible for more than 30% of global economic output -- mulls a possible expansion.

That will top the agenda at Wednesday’s main summit meeting in Johannesburg’s financial district of Sandton. More than 20 nations have applied to join the bloc, according to South African officials, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

Read the full report below.

Russia's Putin stays away over arrest warrant as leaders of emerging economies meet in South Africa

Windows are shattered in a Moscow suburb as Russia says it thwarts latest Ukraine drone attack

Tuesday 22 August 2023 22:30 , Matt Drake

Russian air defense systems thwarted four nighttime Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, with the falling wreckage of one drone shattering an apartment building’s windows and damaging vehicles in Moscow’s western suburbs.

There were no reports of injuries in the latest drone attacks that Russia blamed on Kyiv, as the war approaches its 18-month milestone.

Though the drone attacks on Russian soil have occurred almost daily in recent weeks, they have caused little damage. Even so, they have unnerved some Russians and are in line with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s pledge to take the war into the heart of Russia.

Flights at several Moscow airports were temporarily suspended Tuesday as a security precaution amid the attacks, authorities said.

Read the full report below.

Windows are shattered in a Moscow suburb as Russia says it thwarts latest Ukraine drone attack

Poland's leader says Russia's moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, shifting regional security

Tuesday 22 August 2023 21:42 , Matt Drake

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday that Russia already is in the process of shifting some short-range nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus, a move that Duda said will shift the security architecture of the region and the entire NATO military alliance.

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko said last month that Moscow already had shipped some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus after announcing the plan in March. The U.S. and NATO haven’t confirmed the move.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg denounced Moscow’s rhetoric as “dangerous and reckless,” but said in July that the alliance hadn’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture.

Read the full report below.

Poland's leader says Russia's moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, shifting regional security

Putin says BRICS works for 'global majority'

Tuesday 22 August 2023 20:30 , Matt Drake

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the BRICS grouping of countries was on course to meet the aspirations of most of the world’s population, according to recorded remarks at a summit of the BRICS countries in South Africa on Tuesday.

“We cooperate on the principles of equality, partnership support, respect for each other’s interests, and this is the essence of the future-oriented strategic course of our association, a course that meets the aspirations of the main part of the world community, the so-called global majority,” Putin said.

The BRICS members - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - represent more than 40% of the world’s population and the summit is expected to discuss adding new members, but he did not address that question in his remarks.

Putin was unable to attend the summit in person because of an arrest warrant issued for him in March by the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing him of war crimes in Ukraine.

Ukraine media say Kyiv saboteurs were behind drone attacks on air bases deep inside Russia

Tuesday 22 August 2023 20:00 , Matt Drake

Ukrainian saboteurs coordinated by Kyiv’s military intelligence services carried out a pair of recent drone attacks that hit parked bomber aircraft at air bases deep inside Russia, Ukraine media claimed Tuesday.The attacks on Russian airfields on Saturday and Monday destroyed two Russian bombers and damaged two other aircraft, according to Ukrainska Pravda, as the war approaches its 18-month milestone.That newspaper and Ukraine’s NV news outlet said groups of saboteurs were behind the audacious strikes, which suggest that Ukraine’s scope of action is broadening. It was not possible to verify the claims on the ground.Ukrainian media attributed two attacks to the saboteurs: a strike Saturday on the Soltsy air base in the Novgorod region in northwestern Russia, about 700 kilometers (360 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, and Monday’s strike against the Shaikovka air base in the southwestern Kaluga region that is about 300 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border.The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that the attack on Soltsy damaged one aircraft. It didn’t comment on the reported attack on Shaikovka, but Russian media did.

Ukraine steps up attacks on Russia’s planes and airfields – and boasts of gains on the battlefield

Tuesday 22 August 2023 19:30 , Matt Drake

Ukrainian saboteurs coordinated by Kyiv’s military intelligence services are said to have carried out drone attacks on airfields deep inside Russia – one of which appears to have destroyed a supersonic Russian bomber.

It is one of a number of recent assaults on Russia and its military hardware, as well as drone attacks on Moscow. The latest such attack on the capital came overnight into Tuesday.

Responding to the attack on the Russian airfields, British military intelligence said that the weekend attack is highly likely to have destroyed a nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bomber. Kyiv says Russia has used the Tu-22M3 to bomb targets across Ukraine with conventional munitions. Western military experts believe Russia has around 60 of the aircrafts.

The destruction of the plane, which can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads, underscores the vulnerability to drone attacks of Russia’s fleet of ageing but lethal long-range bombers that are a major part of Moscow’s war effort.

Read the full report here.

Ukraine steps up attacks on Russia’s planes and airfields

Russia sacks head of aerospace forces

Tuesday 22 August 2023 19:00 , Matt Drake

A prominent Russian journalist said on Tuesday that General Sergei Surovikin, former commander of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, had been dismissed as head of the country’s aerospace forces.

There was no official confirmation of the report by Alexei Venediktov, the well-connected former head of the now-defunct Ekho Moskvy radio station, but it was cited by some other Russian news outlets on social media.

Venediktov said on his Telegram channel that Surovikin had been removed by official decree, without providing any further details.

The general has not been seen in public since a short-lived mutiny on June 24-24 by the Wagner mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin against Russia’s defence establishment.

US does not think Ukraine conflict is a stalemate

Tuesday 22 August 2023 18:30 , Matt Drake

The United States does not think the conflict in Ukraine is a stalemate, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan told a briefing on Tuesday.

“We have been clear all along that this battlefield is very dynamic ... there is attacking and defending taking place on both sides at multiple points along a very extended front line,” he said. “We are seeing it (Ukraine) continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis.”

Ukraine defies odds by advancing in counteroffensive

Tuesday 22 August 2023 18:00 , Matt Drake

Ukraine has made progress in its counteroffensive against Russian forces simply by proving it can push back a better-armed and numerically superior enemy, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday.

Ukrainian troops have faced vast Russian minefields and trenches in the counteroffensive launched in early June, and a US official said last week it looked unlikely that Kyiv would be able to recapture the strategic southern city of Melitopol.

But Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar brushed aside any suggestion that Kyiv’s progress was too slow, and said Ukraine had effectively defied military doctrine by attacking an enemy that has a numerical advantage in manpower and weaponry.

“It’s incorrect to measure this advance by metres or kilometres,” Maliar said in an interview. “What’s important is the very fact that despite everything, we’re moving forward even though we have fewer people and fewer weapons.”

She said she was unaware of any Western pressure being exerted on Ukraine‘s military to accelerate operations, and challenged the idea of a universally “correct” tempo.

Poland's leader says Russia's moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus

Tuesday 22 August 2023 17:30 , Matt Drake

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday that Russia already is in the process of shifting some short-range nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus, a move that Duda said will shift the security architecture of the region and the entire NATO military alliance.Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko said last month that Moscow already had shipped some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus after announcing the plan in March. The U.S. and NATO haven’t confirmed the move.NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg denounced Moscow’s rhetoric as “dangerous and reckless,” but said in July that the alliance hadn’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture.Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia said it would maintain control over those it sends to Belarus.

European countries 'declare support for Ukrainian independence'

Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:57 , Martha Mchardy

The leaders of 11 European countries have declared their support for Ukraine’s independence at a summit in Athens.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is currently in Athens attending the summit, having met with the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

At the summit, the countries expressed their “unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders”.

The document was signed by Serbia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece.

White House: US does not think Ukraine conflict is a stalemate

Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:52 , Martha Mchardy

The United States does not think the conflict in Ukraine is a stalemate, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan told a briefing on Tuesday.

“We have been clear all along that this battlefield is very dynamic ... there is attacking and defending taking place on both sides at multiple points along a very extended front line,” he said. “We are seeing it (Ukraine) continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis.”

Russia 'returns bodies of 12 Ukrainian prisoners'

Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:52 , Martha Mchardy

Russia has returned the bodies of 12 Ukrainian soldiers that were being held prisoner, according to a report by The Telegraph.

A government spokesman said: “The Russian side has already handed over to us 12 bodies of our prisoners, which were previously confirmed by the... Red Cross as being held captive in Russia.

“There were no reports from Russia either about the deterioration of their health or about their serious condition.

“Which again calls into question the quality of work or the presence of a medical commission on that side.”

Head of Moscow’s aerospace forces nicknamed ‘General Armageddon’ dismissed, according to reports

Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:20 , Martha Mchardy

A prominent Russian journalist said on Tuesday that General Sergei Surovikin, former commander of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, had been dismissed as head of the country’s aerospace forces.

There was no official confirmation of the report by Alexei Venediktov, the well-connected former head of the now defunct Ekho Moskvy radio station, but it was cited by some other Russian news outlets on social media.

Venediktov said on his Telegram channel that Surovikin had been removed by official decree, without providing any further details.

The general has not been seen in public since a short-lived mutiny on June 24-24 by the Wagner mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin against Russia’s defence establishment.

During the revolt, Surovikin appeared in a video, looking uncomfortable and without insignia, urging Prigozhin to stand down. Since the mutiny, Russian and foreign news reports have said that Surovikin was being investigated for possible complicity in it.

Surovikin earned the nickname “General Armageddon” during Russia’s military intervention in Syria’s civil war.

Last October he was placed in charge of Russian military operations in Ukraine, but in January that role was handed to General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff, and Surovikin was made a deputy to Gerasimov.

Eight Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Denmark

Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:36 , Martha Mchardy

Denmark has begun training eight Ukrainian pilots in flying F-16 fighter jets as part of its commitment to donate aircraft to Ukraine, the Danish armed forces said on Tuesday.

Denmark and the Netherlands on Sunday pledged to donate F-16s to Ukraine, fulfilling a longstanding wish by Ukraine that it says will help strengthen air defences and help its counter-offensive against Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The eight pilots have arrived at the Danish military air base in Skrydstrup along with 65 personnel who will be trained in maintaining and servicing the jets, the Danish armed forces said in a statement.

Greece will also take part in the training of Ukrainian air force pilots for F-16 jets, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.

Denmark will supply Ukraine with 19 F-16 jets and will deliver the first six jets around New Year.

The Netherlands, which has 42 F-16s, has yet to decide how many jets it will supply to Ukraine.

Denmark currently has 43 F-16 jets and will for safety reasons not disclose how many of them are active, the Danish statement said.

Watch: Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska’s interview with Bel Trew

Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:30 , Martha Mchardy

‘Wagner is victim of its own brand name’: How much of a threat does mercenary group pose in Belarus?

Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:00 , Martha Mchardy

The newfound presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus, exiled from Russia after their mutinous march on Moscow, has fuelled fresh anxieties in Ukraine and on Nato’s eastern flank.

Belarus’s neighbours have moved to a heightened state of alert since dictator Alexander Lukashenko appeared to broker a last-minute deal with the Kremlin to defuse the short-lived mutiny on 23 June and host Wagner troops on Belarusian soil.

During a recent meeting at the strategically important Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated land corridor near their countries’ borders with Belarus and Russia’s enclave of Kaliningrad, Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nauseda warned that north of 4,000 mercenaries were believed to be in Belarus, while Poland’s premier Mateusz Morawiecki branded them “extremely dangerous”.

Andy Gregory reports:

Wagner threat in Belarus explained as mercenary group ‘a victim of its brand name’

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said to be recruiting Wagner 'strongmen' for Africa

Tuesday 22 August 2023 14:30 , Martha Mchardy

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday published his first recruitment video for the Wagner Group since organizing a short-lived mutiny against defense officials in Russia, according to information on Russian social media channels.

Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight in June with a dramatic, short-lived rebellion that posed the most serious threat to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian leader’s 23-year rule. The Wagner founder long benefited from Putin’s powerful patronage, including while he built a private army that fought for Russian interests abroad and participated in some of the deadliest battles of the war in Ukraine.

In the video, which was posted on Telegram messaging app channels which are believed to be affiliated with Prigozhin, a person who appears to be the 62-year-old mercenary leader says the Wagner Group is conducting reconnaissance and search activities, and “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free.”

Emma Burrows reports:

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said to be recruiting Wagner 'strongmen' for Africa

Elon Musk spoke with Vladimir Putin directly, Pentagon official says

Tuesday 22 August 2023 13:54 , Martha Mchardy

Elon Musk said he had engaged in direct conversation with Vladimir Putin, according to a former Pentagon official.

Mr Musk’s comments had been made in a discussion the billionaire had with Pentagon officials in October last year about the satellite-based internet provided by SpaceX to Ukraine’s military.

The billionaire had told Colin Kahl, then the under-secretary of defence for policy at the Pentagon, that he had spoken to Mr Putin personally, according a report on Monday in the New Yorker.

Maroosha Muzaffar reports:

Elon Musk spoke with Vladimir Putin directly, Pentagon official says

World Court sets September date to hear Russian objections to Ukraine genocide case

Tuesday 22 August 2023 13:12 , Martha Mchardy

The World Court will hear Russia’s objections to its jurisdiction in a genocide case brought by Ukraine in hearings starting on Sept. 18, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said on Tuesday.

Ukraine filed a case with the ICJ shortly after Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, which accused Moscow of falsely applying genocide law to justify the attack.

In a preliminary decision in the case in March last year the court ordered Russia to cease military actions in Ukraine immediately.

Ukrainian ‘saboteur’ group stopped from crossing into Russia’s Bryansk region - governor

Tuesday 22 August 2023 12:51 , Martha Mchardy

A group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” attempted to breach Russia’s border in the Bryansk region, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Tuesday.

The attempt was thwarted by Russia’s defence ministry, security services and police, Bogomaz said in a post on Telegram.

Watch: RAF Typhoon intercepts three Russian jets in newly released footage

Tuesday 22 August 2023 12:14 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine needs military assistance overcoming massive mine belt - German minister

Tuesday 22 August 2023 11:36 , Martha Mchardy

A massive belt of land mines laid by Russian military in south-eastern Ukraine is hampering Ukrainian soldiers and Kyiv has made clear that it needs equipment to help it get across, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.

“We are currently discussing how we can meet this request, not only as Germans but jointly with other partners,” she said at a press conference in Berlin alongside her Estonian counterpart.

Russia says its forces destroyed U.S.-made military vessel near Snake Island

Tuesday 22 August 2023 11:35 , Martha Mchardy

Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday its forces had destroyed a U.S.-made military speedboat near Snake Island in the Black Sea.

Tiny Snake Island became synonymous with Ukrainian resistance in the first hours of what Russia calls its “special military operation” on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russian officers on the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva radioed Ukrainian guards stationed there and ordered them to surrender or die.

'We need more fighter jets,' says Zelensky adviser

Tuesday 22 August 2023 11:34 , Martha Mchardy

An adviser to president Zelensky has called for allies to send more fighter jets to Ukraine.

It comes after Denmark and the Netherlands agreed to donate 19 F-16s to Ukraine in what Mr Zelensky called a “breakthrough”.

Mykhailo Podolyak said: “The countries that are now transferring aviation equipment to Ukraine are openly demonstrating that they are deeply interested in protecting international law, democracy and justice.

“All of this is possible only if Russia is absolutely defeated. It is extremely important that Ukraine’s other coalition partners make similar decisions.”

Ukraine says it gains foothold in strategic southeastern village

Tuesday 22 August 2023 10:30 , Martha Mchardy

Ukraine said on Tuesday its troops had entered the strategic southeastern village of Robotyne, a potentially significant advance in its counteroffensive against Russian forces.

Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app that Ukrainian soldiers were organising the evacuation of civilians after entering Robotyne but were still coming under fire from Russian forces.

“Our soldiers in the village of Robotyne,” General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukrainian forces in the south, wrote on Telegram under a picture of a soldier in a tank.

Robotyne is 10 km (six miles) south of the frontline town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region on an important road towards Tokmak, a Russian-occupied road and rail hub.

Tokmak’s capture would be a milestone as Ukrainian troops press southwards towards the Sea of Azov, a military push intended to split Russian occupying forces.

The Institute for the Study of War, an American research group and think tank, has described the Ukrainian attacks on Robotyne as “tactically significant”. Advancing in the area could enable Ukrainian forces to begin operating beyond the densest of the Russian minefields that have held up the counteroffensive launched in early June, it said.

In a video published by the Ukrainian military, a woman is seen kissing a Ukrainian soldier and several evacuated residents talking on the phone with loved ones.

“Psychologically it was very hard (...). We were waiting for so long that today they came unexpectedly. We could not even believe it was ours (..) We are very grateful to the boys (troops),” a 52-year-old woman was saying in the video.

Reuters was able to verify the location of the aerial footage from the road layout and positions of buildings seen in the video, which matched satellite imagery of the area. Reuters was not able to independently verify the date it was filmed.

Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, did not immediately comment on the reports from Robotyne.

Windows are shattered in a Moscow suburb as Russia says it thwarts latest Ukraine drone attack

Tuesday 22 August 2023 09:41 , Martha Mchardy

Russian air defence systems thwarted four nighttime Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, with the falling wreckage of one drone shattering an apartment building’s windows and damaging vehicles in Moscow’s western suburbs.

There were no reports of injuries in the latest drone attacks that Russia blamed on Kyiv, as the war approaches its 18-month milestone.

Though the drone attacks on Russian soil have occurred almost daily in recent weeks, they have caused little damage. Even so, they have unnerved some Russians and are in line with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s pledge to take the war into the heart of Russia.

Windows are shattered in a Moscow suburb as Russia says it thwarts latest Ukraine drone attack

Ukraine’s Zelensky has ‘fruitful’ talks with Serbian president

Tuesday 22 August 2023 09:04 , Martha Mchardy

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he had had “open, honest and fruitful” talks with Serbian [resident Aleksandar Vucic.

“An open, honest, and fruitful meeting with the president of Serbia,” Zelensky, who is visiting Athens, wrote on the Telegram messaging app under a photograph of the two leaders shaking hands.

“Good conversation on respect for the UN Charter and the inviolability of borders...On our nations’ shared future in the common European home. On developing our relations, that is in our mutual interest,” Zelensky wrote.

Watch: Ukrainian troops fight on the frontline in Kupiansk

Tuesday 22 August 2023 08:50 , Martha Mchardy

On the ground in Ukraine, the desperate fight to protect a key city from 100,000 of ‘Putin’s thugs’

Tuesday 22 August 2023 08:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

“We were born here, lived here all our lives, and we’ll die here,” says Antonia Samuelska as she trudges along with the aid of a walking stick on a deserted street in Kupiansk. “We have no other home anywhere else, we’ll have to accept what comes.”

The stillness of a hot afternoon under a blazing sun is broken by the sudden roar of artillery fire, three rounds landing one after the other in quick succession, not far away, spraying dust and debris up into the air with plumes of flame and smoke.

The northeastern city of Kupiansk is a key target for Russia as it attempts to fight back against Ukraine’s summer offensive. As relentless shelling bombards the city, Kim Sengupta meets residents and soldiers facing daily assault:

On the ground in Ukraine, the battle to beat ‘Putin’s thugs’ | Kim Sengupta

Russian space agency chief blames decades of inactivity for Luna-25 lander's crash on the moon

Tuesday 22 August 2023 08:02 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The head of Russia’s space agency said Monday that the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after its engines failed to shut down correctly, and he blamed the country’s decades-long pause in lunar exploration for the mishap.

The pilotless Luna-25 had been scheduled to land Monday while aiming to become the first spacecraft to touch down on the south pole of the moon, an area where scientists believe important reserves of frozen water and precious elements may exist.

Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said the spacecraft’s engines were turned on over the weekend to put Luna-25 into a “pre-landing orbit” but did not shut down properly, plunging the lander onto the moon.

“Instead of the planned 84 seconds, it worked for 127 seconds. This was the main reason for the emergency,” Borisov told Russian state news channel Russia 24.

Russian space agency chief blames decades of inactivity for Luna-25 lander's crash on the moon