Ukraine destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft and an ammunition depot at an airfield some 165 miles from the frontline of the war, Kyiv’s military intelligence unit has claimed.
The attack on the Morozovsk airfield in Russia’s Rostov region on Saturday is also likely to have damaged two other Su-34 warplanes, Ukraine’s military said, citing satellite imagery.
It came as Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled the first Western-supplied F-16 warplanes to arrive in Ukraine, and asked for Nato allies to help protect them.
“These jets are in our sky and today you see them,” the Ukrainian president said from an undisclosed airbase, standing in front of two of the jets as others flew overhead.
Mr Putin has warned that Moscow could consider launching strikes at facilities in Nato countries if they host the warplanes used in Ukraine.
The arrival of the planes will bolster Ukrainian morale on the frontline, battered by incessant Russian strikes. Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said the arrival of the F-16s “means that more occupiers will be neutralised.”
Key Points
- Zelensky shows off Ukraine's new F-16 fighter jets
- Ukraine says it struck Russia’s Morozovsk airfield
- Ukraine accuses Russia of dismembering war prisoner
- Kyiv targets occupied Crimea with ‘massive’ strike
Ukraine says Mali’s decision to cut ties was hasty and short-sighted
15:30
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine condemned Mali’s decision to cut diplomatic ties as short-sighted and hasty, saying that no evidence had been provided to show Kyiv had played any role in fighting that killed Malian soldiers and Russian mercenaries last month.
The foreign ministry issued the statement on its website after Bamako announced on Sunday it was immediately severing relations with Kyiv following remarks by Ukraine‘s military spy agency about fighting in northern Mali in late July.
“It is regrettable that ... Mali decided to sever ... relations ... without conducting a thorough study of the facts and circumstances of the incident ... and without providing any evidence of Ukraine‘s involvement in the said event,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.
Ukraine claims to destroy Russian warplane in attack in Rostov
14:55
Andy Gregory
Ukraine destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft and an ammunition depot at an airfield some 165 miles from the frontline of the war, Kyiv’s military intelligence unit has claimed.
The attack on the Morozovsk airfield in Russia’s Rostov region on Saturday is also likely to have damaged two other Su-34 warplanes, Ukraine’s military said, citing satellite imagery.
Four technical buildings and two hangars were also damaged, officials claimed.
EU sanctions 28 Belarus officials accused of human rights violations
14:37
Andy Gregory
The European Union has sanctioned 28 officials accused of human rights violations in Belarus and linked to the ongoing crackdown against opponents of the country’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
In a move just ahead of the anniversary of the disputed 2020 elections that brought Mr Lukashenko to power, the EU said it had frozen the assets of prosecutors and judges “who have issued politically motivated sentences”.
Others targeted included senior officials at the Belarus interior ministry’s department for combatting organised crime and corruption, as well as top officials at some of the country’s prisons and alleged “regime propagandists” working in the media.
The EU said the ministerial department “is one of the main bodies responsible for political persecution in Belarus, including arbitrary and unlawful arrests and ill-treatment, including torture, of activists and members of civil society”.
Last Thursday, two Belarusian journalists working for news outlets that the government has declared extremist were handed prison sentences in a closed-door trial.
Putin offers disaster aid to North Korea to help it cope with recent flooding damage
13:38
AP
Vladimir Putin has offered humanitarian assistance to help North Korea cope with damages from recent floods, both countries said, in another sign of expanding relations between the two nations.
In a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the Russian president extended “extended deep sympathy and support” and conveyed his willingness to provide immediate disaster aid to help North Korea recover from the floods, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Russia’s state news agency Tass carried a similar report, saying that Mr Putin told Mr Kim in the message: “You can always count on our assistance and support.”
Ties between North Korea and Russia have been improving significantly amid widespread outside beliefs that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.
Hyung-Jin Kim has more in this report:
Russia detains another senior defence ministry official
13:01
Andy Gregory
Russian authorities have detained another senior defence ministry official, Russia’s investigative committee has said – marking the latest such arrest since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The committee said Major General Vladimir Shesterov was detained as part of an investigation into suspected fraud and of embezzlement.
Russia’s Shoigu arrives in Tehran for talks with Iranian president
12:41
Andy Gregory
Russia’s security council secretary Sergei Shoigu has arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
Iran has vowed to “punish” Israel after Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran last week, with Russia also condemning the killing and pointing to “the extremely dangerous consequences of such actions”.
Mr Shoigu, who was Russia’s defence minister before being moved to the security council in May, will also meet Iran’s national security chief and the head of the general staff, Interfax said.
Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war with Ukraine and has said it is preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with the Tehran.
New US grant will help fund social and humanitarian spending in Ukraine, Kyiv says
11:24
Andy Gregory
A $3.9bn grant from the United States will be directed towards wages for teachers, staff of the State Emergency Service and other public employees, as well as assistance for displaced persons, low-income families and people with disabilities, Ukraine’s finance ministry has said.
“The grant will help the government of Ukraine to reimburse priority social and humanitarian expenditures without increasing the debt burden,” finance minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Monday.
The ministry said that, since February 2022, direct budget support from the US had reached almost $27bn, the largest source of financial assistance to Ukraine. Mr Marchenko said the grant was a part of a large $60bn package of support for Ukraine.
Mali severs diplomatic ties with Ukraine over fight involving Wagner mercenaries
10:56
Andy Gregory
Mali has announced an immediate severing of diplomatic ties with Ukraine over comments about fighting in the north of the West African nation, in which Malian soldiers and Wagner fighters were killed in late July.
Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels say they killed at least 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers over days of fierce fighting, in what appears to be Wagner’s heaviest defeat since it stepped in two years ago to help Mali’s military authorities fight insurgent groups.
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency has not confirmed Kyiv’s involvement in the fighting but, in comments published by public broadcaster Suspilne on Monday, GUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov said the Malian rebels had received the “necessary” information to conduct the attack.
“The rebels received all the necessary information they needed, and not just the information, which allowed [them] to conduct a successful military operation against Russian perpetrators of war crimes. We certainly won’t go into details now – you will see more of this in the future,” he said.
Mali said it had learned “with deep shock of the subversive remarks”, and said Mr Yusov had “admitted Ukraine’s involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups that resulted in the death of members of the Malian Defence and Security Forces.”
“The actions taken by the Ukrainian authorities violate the sovereignty of Mali, go beyond the scope of foreign interference, which is already condemnable in itself, and constitute a clear aggression against Mali and support for international terrorism,” the Malian government said.
Ukraine receives $3.9bn grant from US via World Bank, prime minister says
10:14
Andy Gregory
Ukraine has received $3.9bn grant from the United States via the World Bank, Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
“This is the first tranche of direct budget support from the United States in 2024. In total, Ukraine will receive $7.8bn in direct budgetary assistance from the United States this year, which will allow us to confidently pass this financial period,” Mr Shmyhal said.
Russian bloggers seeking to downplay impact of F-16s, think-tank says
09:11
Andy Gregory
Russian military bloggers have sought to downplay the potential battlefield impact of the arrival of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.
Russian bloggers have claimed the West is “overhyping” the fighter jets’ arrival in order to distract from battlefield failures, and are discussing how Moscow’s forces will target and destroy the aircraft.
But the think-tank noted that their claims are “directly undermining Russian information operations intended to frame the delivery of F-16s and other Western weapons systems as an uncrossable ‘red line’ drawn by Moscow.
Ukraine must target Russian air defences to use F-16s effectively, says think tank
08:18
Arpan Rai
Ukraine will need to target Moscow’s air defence assets both inside Russia and in occupied Ukraine to enable use of its F-16 fighter jets, a Washington-based think tank monitoring the war has said.
Kyiv will require a substantial number of the advanced Western planes for it to shift the balance of the conflict, The Institute for the Study of War said.
“ISW continues to assess that Ukraine will need a substantial number of F-16 jets in order to field them at the scale necessary for Ukraine to succeed in integrating fixed wing aircraft into its wider air defence umbrella,” it said in its latest assessment.
It added: “Ukraine will also notably need to continue efforts to target Russian air defence assets within the Russian rear and in occupied Ukraine with Western-provided long-range weapons to enable its use of F-16 jets.”
The ISW said Ukraine has so far received 10 of the promised 79 jets and that Ukrainian forces should be able to fly 20 F-16s by the end of 2024.
Ukrainian army chief lauds F-16s arrival: ‘Occupiers will be destroyed'
07:14
Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi welcomed the arrival of the country’s first F-16 fighter jets and thanked the president and other officials for working “24/7” to secure them. Their arrival, he said, would save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
“This means that more of the occupiers will be destroyed,” Syrskyi wrote on Facebook. “It means a greater number of downed missiles and aircraft used by the Russian criminals to attack Ukrainian cities.”
The arrival of the jets is a milestone for Ukraine, though it remains unclear how many are available and how much of an impact they will have in enhancing air defences and on the battlefield.
Russia has been targeting bases that may house them and vowed to shoot them down.
Built by Lockheed Martin, the F-16s had been on Ukraine’s wish list for a long time because of their destructive power and global availability. They are equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles.
Ukraine intensifies its long-range strikes, sinking a Russian submarine and striking an airfield
07:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine downs all 24 drones used in Russian overnight attack
06:43
Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed all 24 Russian attack drones launched overnight, Ukraine‘s Air Force chief said this morning.
“As a result of the anti-aircraft battle, all enemy drones were shot down...in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava and Dnipro regions,” the commander said.
This comes as Ukraine’s newly arrived F-16 fighter jets were put on display Sunday by president Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the planes will boost the country’s war effort against Russia.
Russian spy network active in Ireland, says Irish police
06:23
Arpan Rai
Russia has been accused of carrying out spying operations in Ireland, police officials have said, confirming the arrest of several individuals accused of spying on behalf of Moscow.
Michael McElgunn, assistant commissioner of Ireland’s national police force, said these arrests have been made from Poland, Germany, Estonia and Austria.
“What we’re particularly concerned about is a handful of states who are engaged in spying activities on sovereign soil with malign intent,” Mr McElgunn told RTE Radio.
He added: “If we look at events in Europe and we look at the Russian Federation invasion of Ukraine, I don’t think too many viewers would be surprised if I were to say that Russia was one of these states.”
“Russia is one of the countries that we have an interest in in the general space,” he said, without directly calling the country a hostile state.
Ukraine's Zelenskyy displays newly arrived F-16 fighter jets to combat Russia in the air
06:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russia claims Ukrainian attacks injure 14 in Kherson
05:47
Arpan Rai
Ukrainian attacks injured 14 people, including several at a market, in the Russian-held town of Oleshky in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a Russia-appointed official said yesterday.
In Luhansk, a Russian-held city in northeastern Ukraine, the Russia-appointed governor said Ukrainian forces fired 12 rockets at various targets, eight of which were intercepted. Governor Leonid Pasechnik said on Telegram the number of casualties was being clarified.
In Oleshky, the head of the local administration, Andrei Alekseyenko, said eight people were injured in the initial Ukrainian attack, the shelling of the town’s market.
Alekseyenko, writing on Telegram, said Ukrainian drones later attacked apartment buildings in the town, smashing windows and starting a fire that was extinguished by emergency services. Six people were injured, he said.
Russian forces seized control of the Kherson region in the early days after the February 2022 Russian invasion, but Ukrainian troops recaptured large swathes of the region later in the year.
Oleshky lies in a Russian-held area on the east side of the Dnipro River. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces still shell Ukrainian positions from Russian-held areas of the region.
Putin’s troops advance on key city as Ukraine’s forces seek to push them back
05:45
Arpan Rai
Russian forces are advancing gradually towards the key strategic city of Pokrovsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, as Ukraine struggles with soldier shortages as delays in military aid from the West hold up the equipping of fresh brigades.
Pokrovsk, which serves as a key supply route for other Ukrainian outposts, has become the main focus of fighting in the last few weeks. Military analysts fear that Ukrainian equipment is insufficient to hold off the advance – although they expect the Russian offensive to slow down as it reaches more built-up areas.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed in the last few days it had taken control of Prohres and Yevhenivka - two villages to the east of Pokrovsk - with efforts now focussed on making a breakthrough closer to Pokrovsk.
Ukraine sinks Russian submarine and strikes airfield in new long-range strikes
05:05
Arpan Rai
Ukraine has sunk a Russian submarine and hit a Russian airfield over the weekend, as it keeps up its counteroffensive surge of long-range attacks against Russian targets, officials said. Russia said Ukrainian drones also hit an apartment building, killing one person.
Ukraine struck a Russian Kilo-class submarine and an S-400 anti aircraft missile complex in the Moscow-occupied Crimean peninsula, according to a statement from the General Staff on Saturday, confirming the attack.
The air defence system was established to protect the Kerch Strait Bridge, an important logistics and transport hub supplying Russian forces. Units of the missile forces, as well as the Navy damaged four launchers of the Triumph air defence system, while in the port of Sevastopol, the “Rostov-on-Don” — a submarine of Russia’s Black Sea fleet — was attacked and sank, the statement said.
The General Staff also confirmed that Ukrainian forces struck the Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region after launching a massive drone barrage on Russia. Hits were recorded in warehouses with ammunition, where guided aerial bombs were stored. The operation was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine, the Main Directorate of Intelligence and the Defence Ministry, the statement said.
The uptick in attacks since July come as Ukraine mounts pressure on allies to allow it to use long-range missiles to strike targets in Russia. Western allies, in particular the US, have so far resisted, fearing escalation from Moscow.
Analysts say such an intensification is needed if Ukraine is to degrade Russian capabilities.
‘New aviation standard’ for Ukraine
05:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine has previously relied on an ageing fleet of Soviet-era warplanes that are outgunned by Russia’s more advanced and far more numerous fleet.
Russia has used that edge to conduct regular long-range missile strikes on targets across Ukraine and also to pound Ukrainian front line positions with thousands of guided bombs, supporting its forces that are slowly advancing in the east.
“This is the new stage of development of the air force of Ukraine‘s armed forces,” Zelenskiy said.
“We did a lot for Ukrainian forces to transition to a new aviation standard, the Western combat aviation,” he added, citing hundreds of meetings and unrelenting diplomacy to obtain the F-16s.
“We often heard ‘it is impossible’ as an answer but we still made our ambition, our defensive need, possible,” he said.
Mali cuts ties with Ukraine over Kyiv’s 'involvement' in rebel attack
04:43
Arpan Rai
Comments by a Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson have sparked a diplomatic row between Ukraine and Mali, with the African nation now saying it is immediately cutting ties with Kyiv.
The Ukrainian military wing GUR’s remarks were about fighting in Mali’s north that killed Malian soldiers and Wagner fighters in late July.
At least 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers were killed over days of fierce fighting in the north of the West African country, said Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels, in what appears to be Wagner’s heaviest defeat since it stepped in two years ago to help Mali’s military authorities fight insurgent groups.
GUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov has not confirmed Kyiv’s involvement in the fighting, but in comments published on public broadcaster Suspilne’s website on Monday, 29 July, he said the Malian rebels had received the “necessary” information to conduct the attack.
“The rebels received all the necessary information they needed, and not just the information, which allowed (them) to conduct a successful military operation against Russian perpetrators of war crimes. We certainly won’t go into details now - you will see more of this in the future,” he said.
Mali said it had learned “with deep shock of the subversive remarks.”
It said Mr Yusov had “admitted Ukraine‘s involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups that resulted in the death of members of the Malian Defence and Security Forces.”
“The actions taken by the Ukrainian authorities violate the sovereignty of Mali, go beyond the scope of foreign interference, which is already condemnable in itself, and constitute a clear aggression by Mali and support for international terrorism,” the Malian government said.
Pictured: F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine
04:00
Jabed Ahmed
Zelensky shows off Ukraine's new F-16 fighter jets
03:56
Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s newly arrived F-16 fighter jets were put on display by president Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the planes will boost the country’s war effort against Russia.
Standing in front of two of the fighter jets as two others flew overhead in close formation, Mr Zelensky said: “These jets are in our sky and today you see them.”
“It’s good that they are here and that we can put them to use.”
The war-time president said Ukraine is also trying to get neighbouring countries to help defend it against Russian missiles.
According to a senior Ukrainian military official, Ukraine may keep some of the F-16 fighter jets at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes. Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow could consider launching strikes at facilities in Nato countries if they host the warplanes used in Ukraine.
“This decision is probably a difficult one for our partners, as they are always afraid of unnecessary escalation,” said Ukraine‘s president. “We will work on this... I think we have a good option of a Nato-Ukraine council... so that Nato countries could talk to Ukraine about the possibility of a small coalition of neighbouring countries that would shoot down enemy missiles.”
Two F-16 jets, sporting Ukraine’s trident insignia on their tails and draped in camouflage netting, were a dramatic background for Mr Zelensky’s address to Air Forces Day, an event held under tight security at an undisclosed location to protect the fighter jets from Russian attacks.
Ukraine finally deploying F-16 fighter jets, Zelensky says
03:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian pilots have started flying F-16s for operations within the nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighter jets more than 29 months since Russia's invasion.
The Ukrainian leader announced the use of F-16s, which Kyiv has long lobbied for, as he met military pilots at an air base flanked by two of the jets with two more flying overhead.
"F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our guys who are mastering these jets and have already started using them for our country," Mr Zelensky said.
Ukraine foreign minister heads to Africa to win support in war against Russia
02:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit three African countries this week in an effort to drum up support for Kyiv’s position in its war with Russia.
Mr Kuleba, on his fourth diplomatic tour to Africa in the last two years, will visit Malawi, Zambia and Mauritius on 4-8 August, the ministry said in a statement.
“All meetings will focus on the development of bilateral relations based on mutual respect and interests. Among the key topics will be the participation of African states in global efforts to restore a just peace for Ukraine and the world,” it said.
A number of African countries took part in a conference on Ukraine hosted by Switzerland in June but they have mostly been reluctant to join Western efforts to isolate Russia, an important supplier of energy and commodities.
The ministry said Kuleba would also discuss during his tour the supply of Ukrainian grain to the region and the participation of African companies in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
How Ukraine’s new F-16 fighter jets will help the fight against Putin’s forces and Russia’s drone attacks
01:00
Jabed Ahmed
Two Russian ex-prisoners from swap want to return home
Sunday 4 August 2024 23:59
Jabed Ahmed
Two of the Russian dissidents who were freed from prison and arrived in Germany as part of last week’s major East-West prisoner swap say they are already thinking about returning to Russia, but vow to continue political activism even from abroad.
“As people who were actually deported, who were kicked out of the country, we all have a great desire to return,” dissident Andrei Pivovarov told Reuters.
“I definitely want to be in Russia. I am a Russian politician and that is very important to me.
“It is clear that they (the Russian authorities) will not allow us to return, although we want to.”
Ilya Yashin, an opposition activist imprisoned in 2022 for criticising President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, also expressed his desire to return home.
“I am truly pained by my expulsion from Russia, despite all the gratitude I feel towards those who wished me well and saved me,” Yashin told Reuters.
“But I sincerely say that my place is in Russia ... I have dedicated my life to my country.”
Russia captures village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, defence ministry says
Sunday 4 August 2024 23:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russian forces captured the village of Novoselivka Persha in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Sunday, the Russian defence ministry said, the latest territorial gain in a region Moscow claims as its own.
Frontline update: 140 combat clashes in the past day
Sunday 4 August 2024 22:00
Jabed Ahmed
Some 140 combat clashes occurred on the frontline in Ukraine in the past day, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Most of the fighting took place in Pokrovsk sector, and Russian troop were also active in Toretsk and Kupiansk.
Putin’s troops advance on key city as Ukraine’s forces seek to push them back
Sunday 4 August 2024 21:00
Jabed Ahmed
Pictured: Russian strike on a residential area in Pokrovsk
Sunday 4 August 2024 20:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine intensifies its long-range strikes, sinking a Russian submarine and striking an airfield
Sunday 4 August 2024 19:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine has sunk a Russian submarine and hit a Russian airfield in the past 24 hours, in line with a surge of long-range attacks against Russian targets, officials said.
Russia said Ukrainian drones also hit an apartment building, killing one person.
The uptick in attacks since July come as Ukraine mounts pressure on allies to allow it to use long-range missiles to strike targets in Russia. Western allies, in particular the US, have so far resisted, fearing escalation from Moscow.
Ukraine struck a Russian Kilo-class submarine and an S-400 anti aircraft missile complex in the Moscow-occupied Crimean peninsula, according to a statement from the General Staff on Saturday.
The air defense system was established to protect the Kerch Strait Bridge, an important logistics and transport hub supplying Russian forces.
Zelensky thanks air defenders for their ‘efficiency and precision'
Sunday 4 August 2024 18:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the country’s air force for their “efficiency and precision” in downing Russian target.
In a statement marking Ukraine’s Air Force Day, Mr Zelensky said:
“Ukraine will always be grateful to all those who serve our country with dedication every day and protect the lives of our people from Russian terror.
“Today, we express our special gratitude to all the defenders of our skies—to the Ukrainian warriors of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for every downed Russian target, for their efficiency and precision.
“From the very first days of this war, Ukraine has been countering Russian airstrikes. Our warriors have already destroyed thousands of Russian missiles and drones, and hundreds of Russian combat planes and helicopters.
“These are significant results. And we are doing everything to ensure that the Ukrainian Air Force can achieve even more.”
Ukraine finally deploying F-16 fighter jets, Zelensky says
Sunday 4 August 2024 17:35
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian pilots have started flying F-16s for operations within the nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighter jets more than 29 months since Russia’s invasion.
The Ukrainian leader announced the use of F-16s, which Kyiv has long lobbied for, as he met military pilots at an air base flanked by two of the jets with two more flying overhead.
“F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our guys who are mastering these jets and have already started using them for our country,” Mr Zelensky said.
Spanish journalist or Russian spy? The mystery around Pablo González's double life
Sunday 4 August 2024 17:00
Jabed Ahmed
Pictured: Ukrainian ‘Bucha Witches’ practice combat training
Sunday 4 August 2024 16:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russia strikes injure 15 people in Kherson, regional authorities say
Sunday 4 August 2024 15:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russian forces attacked 17 settlements in Kherson, South Ukraine, injuring 15 civilians, including a child, according to regional authorities.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, said Russian strikes hit a critical infrastructure facility and Ukraine's air defense forces shot down one Shahed-131/136 drone.
Russia loses 1,150 soldiers in the past day
Sunday 4 August 2024 14:00
Jabed Ahmed
The Russian army has had 1,150 troops killed or wounded in action in the past day in Ukraine, bringing the total to nearly 582,910 since the invasion began.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also said it has destroyed five enemy tanks and 17 armored combat vehicles in the past 24 hours.
Ukraine's military also said it had sunk a submarine in Russian-controlled Sevastopool last night.
One Russian missile carrier in Black Sea
Sunday 4 August 2024 13:00
Jabed Ahmed
There is one Russian Kalibr cruise missile carrier in the Black Sea with four missiles on board, according to the Ukrainian Navy.
There are no Russian warships in the Sea of Azov, the Navy said in a post on Facebook.
In the Mediterranean, there are two Russian ships, one of which is a Caliber winged missile carrier with a total of up to 16 missiles.
Pictured: Firefighters at critical infrastructure facility after Russian drone strike
Sunday 4 August 2024 12:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine says it shot down five Russian UAVs overnight
Sunday 4 August 2024 11:00
Jabed Ahmed
The Ukrainian air force says it shot down five Russian Shahed-131/136 UAVs overnight.
Issuing a statement on Telegram, Ukrainian Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, said: “On the night of August 4, 2024, the enemy attacked the Kharkiv region with two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles, the Poltava region with two Kh-59 guided missiles from the airspace of the Kursk region, and launched five Shahed combat UAVs from Russia’s Primorsko-Akhtarsk.”
Ukrainian drone kills one civilian in Russia's Belgorod region
Sunday 4 August 2024 10:00
Jabed Ahmed
A Ukrainian drone killed a woman in the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod region, the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Sunday.
Spanish journalist or Russian spy? The mystery around Pablo González's double life
Sunday 4 August 2024 09:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Among the Russians freed in this week’s historic exchange of prisoners between Russia and the West was a Russian-born freelance journalist from Spain who had been based in Poland since 2019
More here.
Trump congratulates Putin on prisoner swap with West
Sunday 4 August 2024 09:00
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Former president Donald Trump has congratulated Russian president Vladimir Putin for the biggest prisoner swap between the Kremlin and the West since the Cold War.
“I’d like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal,” the Republican presidential candidate said at a campaign rally in Atlanta yesterday. “They released some of the greatest killers anywhere in the world,” he said.
“Some of the most evil killers they got. And we got our people back, but boy, we made some horrible, horrible deals. And it’s nice to say we got them back, but does that set a bad precedent,” he asked.
The US and Russia on Thursday completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries.
The 24 people — some prominent, some not — included a collection of journalists and political dissidents, suspected spies, a computer hacker and a fraudster. Even a man convicted of murder.
Russia released 16 people.
Ukraine says it sunk Russian submarine
Sunday 4 August 2024 08:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ukraine's military said it had sunk a submarine in Russian-controlled Sevastopool, attacked a southern Russian airfield and hit oil depots and fuel and lubricant storage facilities in Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov regions.
"A Russian submarine went to the bottom of the Black Sea," the defence ministry said in a post on X, naming the vessel as the B-237 Rostov-on-Don attack submarine.
The military's general staff said the attack on Sevastopol port also significantly damaged four launchers of the S-400 anti-aircraft "Triumf" defence system.
Ukraine accuses Russia of dismembering war prisoner
Sunday 4 August 2024 07:28
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner urged the UN and the Red Cross to investigate an image widely shared online that he said likely showed a Ukrainian prisoner-of-war killed and dismembered by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general said separately that an urgent investigation had been launched into information being spread on social networks about the murder and dismemberment of a Ukrainian war prisoner.
“A photograph, probably of a Ukrainian prisoner whose head and limbs were cut off by the Russians, has appeared online,” Dmytro Lubinets, the country’s leading human rights official, said on Telegram.
“In view of these horrific images, I have urgently appealed to the Red Cross and the UN to record yet another human rights violation by the terrorist country,” Mr Lubinets wrote.
Andriy Kostin, the prosecutor general, said an urgent investigation had been launched. “Russia consistently repeats the crimes of the Nazis, defiantly showing utter contempt for all norms of the civilised world,” he wrote on Telegram.
Russia denies torture or other forms of maltreatment of prisoners of war.
Ukraine launched more drone attacks than Russia in July
Sunday 4 August 2024 07:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine launched more long-range drone attacks than Russia in July for the first time since the war began.
According to figures published by the Ukrainian army, Russia launched 426 Shahed-type drones into Ukraine and Kyiv hit back with over 520 drones.
It comes as Russia has faced destructive attacks on its oil refineries and other targets in recent months appearing less effective in shooting down the Ukrainian weapons.
The Ukrainian drone attacks were considerably more than 200 attacks in each of the previous two months.
From Gaza to Kyiv, the Palestinian doctor forced to live between two wars
Sunday 4 August 2024 06:00
Jabed Ahmed
Who is Vladimir Kara-Murza? The Putin critic involved in US-Russia prisoner swap
Sunday 4 August 2024 05:00
Jabed Ahmed
ICYMI: Russian airstrike damage ‘critical infrastructure’ in Ukraine
Sunday 4 August 2024 04:00
Jabed Ahmed
A Russian drone attack overnight damaged “critical infrastructure” in the central Ukrainian region of Vinnytsia, a local official said.
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 24 out of 29 Shahed-type drones launched by Russia in the overnight attack over nine regions.
Russian forces also launched two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles and two Kh-31 missiles, the air force said.
Earlier this week, Ukraine said it repelled one of Russia’s largest long-range drone attacks since February 2022, shooting down all 89 drones which included a ‘significant’ number of decoys trying to deplete Ukraine’s air defences.
Watch: Freed American Paul Whelan describes being imprisoned in Russia as 'absolute nonsense'
Sunday 4 August 2024 03:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russia used over 600 guided aerial bombs to attack Ukraine in past week, Zelenskiy says
Sunday 4 August 2024 02:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia has used more than 600 guided aerial bombs to attack his country in the past week.
“Russian combat aviation must be de