Ukraine has launched what is likely to be its largest drone attack of the war so far, with Russian air defences downing some 144 across nine different Russian regions.
At least 20 of the drones were downed over Moscow, Russian officials said, where dozens of flights were cancelled and several major airports suspended operations.
Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency crews were dispatched to several sites across the capital region including the Zhukovo airport and to the Domodedovo district – home to one of Moscow’s largest airports. At least one child was killed and a large fire broke out in a high-rise residential building outside the capital.
More than 60 drones were also downed over Russia’s southwestern region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine and the Lipetsk region, regional governors said.
On the war’s frontline, Russian forces pressed on with their advance in eastern Ukraine and claimed to have captured Memryk village to the east of the city of Pokrovsk. While Ukraine did not officially confirm the loss of territory, the country’s war blogs reported it had passed into Russian hands last week.
Key Points
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Ukraine summons Iranian diplomat over missile transfer to Russia
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Russia suspends 30 flights amid major drone attack
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Iran sending Russia ballistic missiles would mark ‘dramatic escalation’, warns White House
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Combat boats, missiles, camouflage gear: Inside Sweden’s $440m aid for Ukraine
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Russia and China in joint military exercise
Russia says it will work with international bodies after Ukraine drone attack on Moscow
08:22 , Tom Watling
Russia has claimed it will work with international organisations after alleging that Ukraine struck Moscow and western Russia in one of its biggest ever drone attacks.
State news agency Ria cited foreign ministry Maria Zakharova as saying they would open up to international organisations.
Previously, Russia has refused international help following strikes and a Ukrainian incursion into the border region of Kursk.
Pictures: Russian building on fire after Ukrainian drone strike
08:16 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine struck Moscow and western Russia in one of its biggest ever drone attacks, killing at least one woman, wrecking dozens of homes and forcing the closure of major airports in the capital, Russian officials said.
Social media videos showed flames bursting out of windows of a multi-storey residential building, saying that dozens of flats were damaged in the Ramenskoye district.
“I looked at the window and saw a ball of fire,” Alexander Li, a resident of the district told Reuters. “The window got blown out by the shockwave.”
The Ramenskoye district, some 50km (31 miles) southeast from the Kremlin, has a population of around quarter a million of people, according to official data.
Voices: Why Xi secretly hates and fears Russia – and may be about to betray Putin
08:00 , Michael Sheridan
The bear and the dragon can never be friends. That is a lesson Xi Jinping heard at a young age. And it explains why the Chinese leader’s “no limits” partnership with Vladimir Putin may turn into a limitless liability – for the Kremlin.
While researching a new biography of Xi, I came across a startling declassified US document. It reveals that the man who was Xi’s mentor in his first job, at the heart of China’s military, was fiercely anti-Russian. Never trust Moscow, he told his staff.
Today, it all looks fine. The two autocrats have boasted of their alliance for more than two years now. It’s clear that Putin gave his “friend” a tip that he was about to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, Xi has stood alongside him, talking peace but sending Russia weapons technology in exchange for oil and gas.
Read the full article by Michael Sheridan, longtime foreign correspondent and diplomatic editor of The Independent:
Why Xi secretly hates and fears Russia – and may be about to betray Putin
Three Moscow airports resume flights, officials say
07:58 , Arpan Rai
Moscow’s Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Vnukovo airports resumed normal operations after flights were suspended this morning amid Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsia said on Telegram.
Hours earlier, Ukraine launched swarms of attack drones over the world’s biggest nuclear power, striking its capital Moscow and several western regions. Russia said it destroyed at least 20 over the Moscow region, which has a population of over 21 million, and 124 more over eight other regions.
A major road leading to the capital was partially closed.
Ukraine downs 38 Russia-launched drones overnight
07:23 , Arpan Rai
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 38 out of 46 Russia-launched drones during an overnight attack in a statement via Telegram. The air force said Russia also used two missiles in its attack.
What is happening in Ukraine’s east frontline as Putin’s forces advance?
07:00 , Alexander Butler
Since 6 August, when Ukraine began its cross-border attack, Russian forces have advanced several miles towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region.
If Russia eventually seizes it, it will be the largest population centre it has taken since Bakhmut last May, after months of heavy urban warfare.
Nevertheless, the loss of Pokrovsk could have an even costlier effect.
The city, a logistical hub for the country’s military, sits at the junction of two major roads through the region. Its capture is seen as key to the Russian military prosecuting Vladimir Putin’s objective of taking the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, known as Donbas.
Russia’s military appears to have thrown resources at the effort, possibly at the expense of defending its own civilians in Kursk. As one analyst put it, Putin’s “eye of Sauron”, a reference to Lord of the Rings, has been trained on Donetsk, and particularly Pokrovsk, even as his own country is being invaded.
Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling has more in this report:
What is happening in Ukraine’s east frontline as Putin’s forces advance?
Russia says there can be no peace talks until Ukrainian forces are out of Kursk
06:53 , Arpan Rai
Russia will not hold any talks with Kyiv until Ukrainian forces have left Russian territory, said Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s security council, according to the TASS news agency.
Shoigu’s comments closely mirror those repeatedly made by Ukraine itself, which says there can be no peace until Russia’s army leaves its lands.
A month ago Ukraine launched a bold incursion into Russia’s Kursk region even as it struggled to hold back the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
In the latest update yesterday evening, Volodymyr Zelensky said he received a report from his top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, on fighting in the northeast Kharkiv region and on Kyiv’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk.
Ukrainian forces, he said, were “getting Russia used to a clear understanding of where its land is and where its neighbour’s land is”.
David Knowles, The Telegraph’s Ukraine war podcast host, dies
06:25 , Arpan Rai
David Knowles, founder and co-host of The Telegraph’s Ukraine war podcast, has died at the age of 32, the newspaper confirmed yesterday.
The award-winning journalist passed away in Gibraltar on Sunday “following what was believed to be a cardiac arrest,” The Telegraph said in an obituary.
Knowles was the co-host of the weekly podcast Ukraine: The Latest, launched at the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022. The podcast won Best News Podcast at the Publisher Podcast Awards this year.
Knowles had joined the British newspaper in 2020 as deputy head of social media. He was later promoted to head of social media.
“David was a talented and popular journalist who was perhaps best known for helping to make our Ukraine podcast such a success. Before that, he was an impressive leader of our social media team. We would like to offer our sympathy to his family and friends,” said Chris Evans, the editor of The Telegraph.
Voices: Ukraine’s attack on Russia started as a triumph – but could turn into a catastrophe
06:00 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine took more than 300 square miles of the Kursk region in the first month of its counter-invasion of Russia, raising morale at home and challenging a growing sense in the West that stalemate was the best Kyiv could hope for.
Yet as a daring incursion looks set to become an open-ended occupation, doubts are growing about its long-term wisdom.
Russian historian and author Mark Galeotti shares his concerns in this piece:
Ukraine’s attack on Russia started as a triumph – but could yet turn into a tragedy
Two killed in fire at Russian oil pipeline
05:41 , Arpan Rai
Two people died in a fire that broke out at an oil pipeline in Russia’s Orenburg region, TASS state news agency reported today, citing the regional prosecutor’s office.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway, TASS reported.
It was not clear when the fire broke out, but there were unofficial reports of the incident on some Russian Telegram channels yesterday.
Russia suspends 30 flights amid major drone attack
05:27 , Arpan Rai
Russia grounded more than 30 flights this morning as its air defences downed at least 15 drones around Moscow. Russian officials said at least one child was killed and a large fire broke out in a high-rise residential building outside the capital.
Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency crews were dispatched to several sites across the region and near the Zhukovo airport and to the Domodedovo district – home to one of Moscow’s largest airports, he said.
Russia’s RIA agency reported that Zhukovo was closed for air traffic following the suspension of more than 30 domestic and international flights there and at other airports that serve the Russian capital.
More than 60 drones were also downed over Russia’s southwestern region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine and the Lipetsk region in Russia’s south, regional governors said. There was no damage or casualties reported there.
The overnight drone attacks damaged at least two high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district of the Moscow region, setting several flats on fire, Moscow’s governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Telegram. “Unfortunately, a 9-year-old child died,” Mr Vorobyov said.
Iranian missiles in Russia are a legitimate target, Zelensky’s aide says
05:10 , Arpan Rai
A senior Ukrainian official said Western partner countries must allow Ukraine to use weapons they have supplied to strike military warehouses inside Russia because of strong suspicions Iran has provided ballistic missiles for the Kremlin’s war effort.
The United States has told allies it believes Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press over the weekend.
Western countries supporting Ukraine in the war have hesitated to let its military strike targets on Russian soil, fearing they could be sucked into Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, but the head of the Ukrainian presidential office said “protection is not escalation.”
“In response to the supply of ballistic missiles to Russia, Ukraine must be allowed to destroy warehouses storing these missiles with Western weapons in order to avoid terror,” Andrii Yermak said on his Telegram channel. He did not specify which country was supplying the missiles.
Iranian missiles in Russia are a legitimate target, a Ukrainian official says
Watch: Vladimir Putin suggests support for Kamala Harris as next US president
05:00 , Alexander Butler
Ukraine summons Iranian diplomat over missile transfer to Russia
04:25 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s foreign ministry summoned a senior Iranian diplomat to warn of “devastating and irreparable consequences” for bilateral relations if reports that Tehran had supplied Russia with ballistic missiles were correct.
The rebuke comes after the US told its allies it believes Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry said on Telegram it had summoned Iran‘s charge d’affaires, Shahriar Amouzegar, and warned him in “harsh form” about the consequences for relations if delivery of the missiles was confirmed.
A senior Iranian official denied the reports earlier yesterday, describing them as “psychological warfare”. A European Union spokesperson described the information as “credible”.
Combat boats, missiles, camouflage gear: Inside Sweden’s $440m aid for Ukraine
04:13 , Arpan Rai
Large amounts of battlefield gear and vehicles are inside Sweden’s 17th aid package to Ukraine, officials said. The latest tranche of aid will take Stockholm’s total military support to 4.6bn Swedish crowns (£339m), defence minister Pal Jonson said.
The new package will include ammunition for infantry fighting vehicles already donated by Sweden, as well as purchases that would facilitate a transfer of Gripen fighter jets in the future, though no such transfer has been decided on yet. It also contains additional combat boats, missiles and camouflage gear as well as funding to support defence procurements for Ukraine.
The measures were decided in close collaboration with Kyiv.
“We want to have the ability to donate Gripens to Ukraine at a possible later stage,” Mr Jonson told a press conference.
About half of the value of the package consisted of parts needed in Sweden’s production of the latest model Gripen E fighters for its own air force. This would mean Sweden would not, as previously planned, need to cannibalise its existing C/D models as part of the upgrade, allowing the older jets to transferred to Ukraine at a possible future date.
“At present, it is not on the cards to transfer JAS Gripens to Ukraine as this would disturb the introduction of F-16s,” the government said in a statement.
China announces joint naval and air drills with Russia
04:00 , Alexander Butler
China announces joint naval and air drills with Russia amid ongoing Ukraine conflict
Drone attack targets Moscow, one child killed
03:51 , Arpan Rai
Russian officials claim one child was killed and another civilian was injured in an early morning drone attack today by Ukraine that targeted Moscow.
Regional governor of Moscow oblast Andrei Vorobyov confirmed the casualties shortly after a fire was reported in a multi-storey residential building in Moscow’s Ramenskoye district.
Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that the 11th and 12th floors of the building were set ablaze. “Emergency services are on site,” Sobyanin said.
The Ukrainian doctors forced to perform surgery without anaesthetic
03:00 , Alexander Butler
Russian airstrikes on Ukraine’s hospitals and power stations are pushing the country’s doctors to extraordinary limits, forcing operating theatres underground and leaving surgeons with little choice but to conduct complex procedures in the dark and with limited anaesthetic for patients.
Doctors in cities across the war-torn country spoke to The Independentabout the toll of working 22-hour shifts in such punishing conditions, not knowing if their hospital could be the next target in Vladimir Putin’s renewed onslaught of drone and missile attacks.
Due to severe power shortages last week, surgeons were left with only four to six hours of electricity per day, crippling their ability to run operating rooms effectively, says Yuriy Boychenko, the founder of Hope for Ukraine, a charity supporting the country’s doctors and hospitals.
Read the full article by The Independent’s Asia reporter Arpan Rai:
Putin’s relentless airstrikes push Ukrainian doctors to their limit
Putin has two secret sons with gymnast who live life of luxury isolated from world
02:00 , Alexander Butler
Russian president Vladimir Putin has two secret sons who live an isolated life of luxury in a heavily-guarded mansion, according to a Russian investigative journalism website.
The Dossier Centre reported that Ivan, nine, and Vladimir Jr, five, spend most of the year at their father’s vast mansion near Lake Valdai, northwest of Moscow.
Their mother is Alina Kabaeva, the former Olympic rhythmic gymnast whose relationship with Putin has been an open secret in Russia for more than a decade, the Dossier Centre claim.
Putin has two secret sons with gymnast who live life of luxury isolated from world
Cyber sabotage operation in Poland ‘neutralised’
01:00 , Alexander Butler
Polish security services have neutralised a cyber sabotage operation by Russia and Belarus, Poland’s deputy prime minister has said.
Warsaw has repeatedly accused Moscow of attempting to destabilise Poland due to its role in supplying military aid to neighbour Ukraine – allegations Russia has dismissed.
Krzysztof Gawkowski, Poland’s deputy prime minister and also minister for digital affairs, said today that saboteurs, operating from Belarus in co-operation with Russia, had attempted to gain information from government institutions
Russian drone that crashed in Latvia carried explosives, Latvian military says
Monday 9 September 2024 23:00 , Alexander Butler
A Russian military drone which crashed in Latvia on Saturday carried explosives that were likely to have been intended for Ukraine when it strayed into its air space, Latvian officials said on Monday.
Romania and Latvia, both Nato members and supporters of Ukraine in its 2 1/2-year-old war with Russia, said on Sunday they were investigating instances of Russian drones that crashed after breaching their airspace.
The drone that landed in Latvia was of the Iranian-designed Shahed type, National Armed Forces Commander Lieutenant General Leonids Kalnins told a press conference, according to Latvia’s Delfi news website.
The drone’s explosives, which were likely meant for Ukraine, were deactivated following its discovery in Latvia, Kalnins told reporters.
Sweden announces £340m support package for Ukraine
Monday 9 September 2024 21:00 , Alexander Butler
Sweden will send its 17th aid package to Ukraine with further military support totalling £340milllion, defence minister Pal Jonson said.
The new package will include ammunition for infantry fighting vehicles already donated by Sweden, as well as purchases that would facilitate a transfer of Gripen fighter jets in the future, though no such transfer has been decided on yet.
“We want to have the ability to donate Gripens to Ukraine at a possible later stage,” Mr Jonson told a press conference.
Mr Jonson said support included additional combat boats, missiles and camouflage gear as well as funding to support defence procurements for Ukraine
Romania finds Russian drone fragments near Ukraine border
Monday 9 September 2024 20:00 , Alexander Butler
Fragments from a Russian drone were found a Romanian village near the Danube River that borders Ukraine on Sunday after an overnight attack on Ukrainian river ports, the defence ministry of Nato-member Romania said on Monday.
The ministry said it was conducting searches in a second area where drone parts might have fallen. Romania has found drone fragments after attacks several times since last year.
The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine
Monday 9 September 2024 19:00 , Alexander Butler
In a Ukrainian stronghold near the front line, less than 20 miles from the eastern city of Donetsk, a winged bomb is seen hurtling towards a multistorey building.
The 1,500-kilogram explosive hits the structure in the town of Krasnohorivka, erupting into a fireball before engulfing the whole building in a plume of grey and black smoke.
The camera, filming from several hundred metres away, shakes as the ground beneath it rocks from the aftereffects of the explosion.
The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine
In Ukraine, a city grieves for a family killed in a deadly Russia missile attack
Monday 9 September 2024 18:00 , Alexander Butler
In Ukraine, a city grieves for a family killed in a deadly Russia missile attack
It feels like the Ukraine invasion has made the Russian invasion more ferocious
Monday 9 September 2024 17:00 , Alexander Butler
It feels like the Ukraine invasion has made the Russian invasion more ferocious
World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say heads of MI6 and CIA
Monday 9 September 2024 16:00 , Alexander Butler
World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say MI6 and CIA chiefs
Voices: Why Xi secretly hates and fears Russia – and may be about to betray Putin
Monday 9 September 2024 15:00 , Michael Sheridan
The bear and the dragon can never be friends. That is a lesson Xi Jinping heard at a young age. And it explains why the Chinese leader’s “no limits” partnership with Vladimir Putin may turn into a limitless liability – for the Kremlin.
While researching a new biography of Xi, I came across a startling declassified US document. It reveals that the man who was Xi’s mentor in his first job, at the heart of China’s military, was fiercely anti-Russian. Never trust Moscow, he told his staff.
Today, it all looks fine. The two autocrats have boasted of their alliance for more than two years now. It’s clear that Putin gave his “friend” a tip that he was about to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, Xi has stood alongside him, talking peace but sending Russia weapons technology in exchange for oil and gas.
Read the full article by Michael Sheridan, longtime foreign correspondent and diplomatic editor of The Independent:
Why Xi secretly hates and fears Russia – and may be about to betray Putin
Girl, 16, ‘killed in attack on Ukrainian city’
Monday 9 September 2024 14:30 , Alexander Butler
A 16-year-old girl has died following Russian artillery fire in the city of Nikopol, in the south of Ukraine, over the weekend, a regional governor has said.
Serhiy Lysak, head of Dnipropetrovsk OVA, said emergency crews pulled the teenager from the rubble of a damaged building in a statement shared on Telegram. However, medics were unable to save her, he wrote.
Three other people suffered shrapnel wounds, he said, including a 79-year-old man who was taken to hospital with injuries of “moderate severity”.
Iran denies reports of missile transfer to Russia
Monday 9 September 2024 14:00 , Alexander Butler
A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander denied reports that Iran was transferring missiles to Russia, Iranian media said on Monday, amid concern in the West that they could be deployed in the war in Ukraine.
CNN and the Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing unidentified sources, that Iran had transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.
Brigadier Fazlollah Nozari, deputy commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters, was quoted by the Iranian Labour News Agency as saying: “No missile was sent to Russia and this claim is a kind of psychological warfare.”
Watch: Drone rains down molten thermite on Ukrainian battlefield
Monday 9 September 2024 13:30 , Alexander Butler
North Korean weapons extending Russian stockpiles, German general says
Monday 9 September 2024 12:20 , Alexander Butler
North Korea’s provision of weapons has strengthened Russia’s hand in Ukraine by allowing it to keep its arsenals stocked at home, Germany’s top military official said during a visit to South Korea on Monday.
Chief of Defence General Carsten Breuer said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have reached out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for weapons if they were not useful.
“It’s about increasing the production of weapons for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, it’s also strengthening Russia by making it possible for them to keep their stocks like they are,” Breuer told reporters in the South Korean capital Seoul.
Putin loyalists set to win local elections in war-affected Russian regions
Monday 9 September 2024 09:30 , Alexander Butler
Supporters of President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine were set to win gubernatorial races across Russia, according to early vote counts on Sunday, including in Kursk where Ukrainian forces have seized control of some towns and territory.
Russia’s three-day local and regional elections came to an end on Sunday evening, with voters expected to elect Kremlin-backed candidates in all 21 gubernatorial races, as well as legislative assembly members in 13 regions and city council officials across the country.
Results of the tightly controlled elections are already being interpreted in Russia as a vote of confidence in Putin and his operation in Ukraine, now in its third year – just as was the election in March that extended his presidential term and voting a year ago.
World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say heads of MI6 and CIA
Monday 9 September 2024 08:51 , Alexander Butler
The international world order is under threat in a way not seen since the Cold War, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned.
In the first joint op-ed penned by the leaders of the British and American intelligence services in their shared 77-year history, the MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore and CIA director William Burns warned that both countries now “face an unprecedented array of threats”.
Writing in the Financial Times, the intelligence leaders reflected on their decades of cooperation over the course of two world wars and in their fight against terrorism, warning: “The challenges of the past are being accelerated in the present, and compounded by technological change.”
World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say MI6 and CIA chiefs
Russia and China in joint navy exercise
Monday 9 September 2024 08:36 , Alexander Butler
Russia’s military will send naval and air forces to join an exercise held by China in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk in September, China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
The drills aim to deepen “the level of strategic coordination between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly respond to security threats,” Xinhua said.
Russia launches eight drones at Ukraine in overnight attack
Monday 9 September 2024 07:39 , Alexander Butler
Russian forces launched eight drones and three missiles at Ukraine in an overnight attack, Kyiv’s airforce said.
Ukraine downed six out of eight drones and two out of three missiles, it added. Overnight air attacks have become a daily occurrence in Ukraine.
Volodmyr Zelensky has urged Western leaders to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia.
Last week, he said: “We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russia territory so that Russia is motivated to seek peace.”
US believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia
Monday 9 September 2024 07:20 , Arpan Rai
The United States has informed allies that it believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine, two people familiar with the matter said.
They did not offer any details about how many weapons have been delivered or when the transfers may have occurred, but they confirmed the US intelligence finding. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that has not been disclosed publicly disclosed.
The White House declined to confirm the weapons transfer but reiterated its concern that Iran is deepening its support of Russia. The White House has been warning Iran for months not to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia.
“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and lead to the killing of more Ukrainian civilians,” National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement. “This partnership threatens European security and illustrates how Iran’s destabilising influence reaches beyond the Middle East and around the world.”
US believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, AP sources say
On the ground | Fears Ukraine invasion has made the Russians more ferocious
Monday 9 September 2024 07:02 , Andy Gregory
The city of Kostyantynivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk has become one of the main targets of relentless Russian attacks to capture the remaining strongholds held by Kyiv’s troops in the region.
Explosions are almost ever-present in and around the city, whether direct shelling attacks, or the sound of artillery batteries firing hundreds of rounds on the front line, reinforcing the sense that something catastrophic is approaching.
Kostyantynivka is one of the few remaining towns of any size still in Ukrainian hands in the region. And it is now perilously close to the front lines. Outgoing Ukrainian fire could also be heard south of the city with a distinctive rapid whoosh-whoosh-whoosh signifying, says one civilian, one of the highly accurate US-provided multiple rocket launchers at work.
Russian attacks are being ramped up across the area – from the commanding heights of Chasiv Yar, less than 10 miles to the northeast, to the mining town of Toretsk, whose slag heaps can be seen eight miles to the south, and Pokrovsk – the key target for Moscow at the moment – some 33 miles to the southwest along a route already vulnerable to shelling by the approaching Russians.
A local businessman, Petro, says: “Our city has been a target for the Russians since 2014, but they have been hitting us hard, smashing away at Kostyantynivka since the start of the full-blown invasion in 2022. There has been an increase in their attacks since August and perhaps the Ukrainian invasion into Russia has made [the Russian troops] more ferocious and so they’re firing more. That’s how it feels.”
Askold Krushelnycky has more in this dispatch from Kostyantynivka:
Putin send greetings to North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
Monday 9 September 2024 06:56 , Arpan Rai
Vladimir Putin sent greetings to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the occasion of North Korea’s founding anniversary, state media KCNA reported today. He was joined by his Chinese ally and president Xi Jinping.
“I am sure that the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and the DPRK will be strengthened in a planned way thanks to our joint efforts,” Mr Putin said, referring to the North’s official name – the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Mr Xi called for deeper strategic communication and cooperation with North Korea in his message, KCNA said.
On the same day last year, Kim marked the country’s founding with a parade of paramilitary groups and diplomatic exchanges in which he vowed to deepen ties with China and Russia.
Ukraine downs six drones, two missiles fired by Russia overnight
Monday 9 September 2024 06:48 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down six out of eight drones and two out of three missiles during the latest overnight attack by Russia.
Vladimir Putin’s forces launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv, and the city’s air defence units were engaged in repelling the strikes, Ukraine’s military said on Telegram.
German intelligence agency warns against Russian cyber group
Monday 9 September 2024 06:37 , Arpan Rai
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has warned against a cyber group belonging to a Russian military intelligence (GRU) unit known as 29155, saying it has carried out cyberattacks against Nato and EU countries.
In a post on social media platform X today, the Bundesverfassungsschutz said it was issuing the warning alongside the FBI, US cybersecurity agency CISA, the NSA and other international partners.
“The actor is also said to have attacked networks in Nato member states in Europe and North America, as well as countries in Latin America and Central Asia. The activities included both destructive actions and scanning and data theft,” it said in a statement.
Scholz wants speedier efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine
Monday 9 September 2024 06:11 , Arpan Rai
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for Russia’s war against Ukraine to end as soon as possible, adding that he and Volodymyr Zelensky agree on the need to include Russia in future peace negotiations.
“There will certainly be a further peace conference, and the president and I agree that it must be one with Russia present,” Mr Scholz said, talking to Germany’s ZDF public television.
“I believe that now is the moment when we must discuss how we get out of this war situation faster than the current impression is,” he said.
Zelensky renews call for removing restrictions on Western-supplied weapons
Monday 9 September 2024 06:00 , Andy Gregory
Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his call for the removal of restrictions on using Western-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory, adding that Ukraine was ramping up its own weapons production.
“We are setting up underground weapons production facilities so Ukrainian soldiers can defend themselves, even if supplies from our partners are delayed,” the Ukrainian president said on Saturday.
“We have developed new drones and missiles, and we are gradually bringing this war back to Russia. Eventually, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will feel the pressure to seek only one thing: peace.”
Ukraine hits out at Russia over drones inside Romania, Latvia
Monday 9 September 2024 05:48 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine foreign minister Andrii Sybiha called Russian drone incursions “a reminder (that) the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation go beyond Ukraine’s borders.”
“The collective response of the Allies should be maximum support for Ukraine now, to put an end to (Russian aggression), protect lives and preserve peace in Europe,” Sybiha said in a post on X.
A drone entered Romanian territory early yesterday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, Romania’s ministry of national defence reported, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day.
Bucharest deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions, officials said.
It said investigations were underway at a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Nato backlash as Russian violates Romania and Latvia’s airspace with drones
Monday 9 September 2024 05:06 , Arpan Rai
A senior Nato official has condemned Russia’s violation of Romanian airspace after the European nation scrambled F-16 fighter jets for Russian drones.
Mircea Geoană, Nato’s outgoing deputy secretary general and Romania’s former top diplomat, said: “While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.”
In a similar stance, Latvia’s military said there were no indications that Moscow or Minsk purposely sent a drone into the country.
While the incursion into Latvian airspace appeared to be a rare incident, Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on several occasions since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, as recently as July this year.
What is happening in Ukraine’s east frontline as Putin’s forces advance?
Monday 9 September 2024 05:01 , Andy Gregory
Since 6 August, when Ukraine began its cross-border attack, Russian forces have advanced several miles towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region.
If Russia eventually seizes it, it will be the largest population centre it has taken since Bakhmut last May, after months of heavy urban warfare.
Nevertheless, the loss of Pokrovsk could have an even costlier effect.
The city, a logistical hub for the country’s military, sits at the junction of two major roads through the region. Its capture is seen as key to the Russian military prosecuting Vladimir Putin’s objective of taking the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, known as Donbas.
Russia’s military appears to have thrown resources at the effort, possibly at the expense of defending its own civilians in Kursk. As one analyst put it, Putin’s “eye of Sauron”, a reference to Lord of the Rings, has been trained on Donetsk, and particularly Pokrovsk, even as his own country is being invaded.
Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling has more in this report:
What is happening in Ukraine’s east frontline as Putin’s forces advance?
World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say heads of MI6 and CIA
Monday 9 September 2024 04:45 , Arpan Rai
The international world order is under threat in a way not seen since the Cold War, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned.
In the first joint op-ed penned by the leaders of the British and American intelligence services in their shared 77-year history, the MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore and CIA director William Burns warned that both countries now “face an unprecedented array of threats”.
Writing in the Financial Times, the intelligence leaders reflected on their decades of cooperation over the course of two world wars and in their fight against terrorism, warning: “The challenges of the past are being accelerated in the present, and compounded by technological change.”
“There is no question that the international world order – the balanced system that has led to relative peace and stability and delivered rising living standards, opportunities and prosperity – is under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the cold war,” they wrote.
World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say MI6 and CIA chiefs
Romania, Latvia report Russian drones breach airspace
Monday 9 September 2024 04:13 , Arpan Rai
Romania and Latvia are investigating instances of Russian drones breaching their airspace before being downed, officials in both countries said.
While Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor the attack and residents of the southeastern Romanian counties of Tulcea and Constanta were warned to take cover, Latvia shared photos of a crashed drone in the eastern part of the country.
In Latvia, president Edgars Rinkevics posted on social media platform X that a Russian military drone had crashed in the eastern part of the country, which at one time was part of the Soviet Union.
“There is an ongoing investigation. We are in close contact with our allies,” Rinkevics wrote. “The number of such incidents is increasing along the Eastern flank of Nato and we must address them collectively.”
The Romanian defence ministry said the “radar supervision system identified and tracked the path of a drone which entered national airspace and then exited towards Ukraine.”
“From existing data, the possibility of an impact zone on national territory was identified, in an uninhabited area near the village of Periprava,” the ministry added.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, also writing on X, described the incidents as “a stark reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions extend beyond Ukraine“ and called for maximum support from Ukraine’s allies in the conflict.
Nato member Romania shares a 650km (400-mile) border with Ukraine and has had Russian drone fragments stray into its territory repeatedly over the past year.
ICYMI: World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say heads of MI6 and CIA
Monday 9 September 2024 04:00 , Andy Gregory
The international world order is under threat in a way not seen since the Cold War, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned.
In the first joint op-ed penned by the leaders of the British and American intelligence services in their shared 77-year history, the MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore and CIA director William Burns warned that both countries now “face an unprecedented array of threats”.
Writing in the Financial Times, the intelligence leaders reflected on their decades of cooperation over the course of two world wars and in their fight against terrorism, warning: “The challenges of the past are being accelerated in the present, and compounded by technological change.”
You can read more in this report:
World order under threat ‘not seen since Cold War’, say MI6 and CIA chiefs
Russia claims it has captured Ukrainian town in advance on Pokrovsk
Monday 9 September 2024 03:59 , Arpan Rai
Russia said its forces had taken full control of a town in eastern Ukraine as they advance on the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken the town of Novohrodivka, which lies 12km (7 miles) from Pokrovsk, an important rail and road hub for Ukrainian forces in the area. The town had a population of 14,000 before the war.
Yuri Podolyaka, an influential Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, published maps showing Russian forces attacking beyond Novohrodivka in at least two places less than 7km (4 miles) from Pokrovsk.
However yesterday evening, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military gave details of fighting throughout the Pokrovsk sector, including Novohrodivka.
It said 29 attempted Russian advances had been repelled, with seven skirmishes continuing. “Our troops are taking measures to maintain designated positions,” it said.
An interview with a Ukrainian officer broadcast last week by US-funded Radio Liberty said Ukrainian forces had abandoned Novohrodivka on the basis that it was becoming too difficult to defend.
Popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState said Russian forces had also captured the village of Nevelske, to the southeast.
Two men killed in Russian strike on Donetsk hotel, officials say
Monday 9 September 2024 03:01 , Andy Gregory
Rescue teams pulled the bodies of two men from the rubble of a hotel destroyed on Saturday evening by a Russian air strike in Donetsk, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.
Death toll from Poltava strike rises to 58
Monday 9 September 2024 02:00 , Andy Gregory
The death toll from a massive Russian missile strike on Tuesday that blasted a military academy and nearby hospital in the eastern city of Poltava rose to 58 on Saturday, regional governor Filip Pronin reported, as funerals were held for those killed in the attack.
More than 320 other people were injured in the Russian strike.
Air raid sirens rang out on Saturday as funeral rites took place.
