Volodymyr Zelensky has asked for Nato allies to help protect Ukraine’s new F-16 fighter jets, as he confirmed his military received the first of the warplanes on Sunday.
“These jets are in our sky and today you see them,” he said as he spoke at an undisclosed airbase on Sunday, standing in front of two of the fighter jets as two others flew overhead.
Already facing an increased Russian missile assault as Vladimir Putin’s troops target the Western-acquired warplanes, Ukraine may keep some of the F-16s at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes, according to a senior military official.
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.
The arrival of the planes will bolster Ukrainian morale on the frontline, battered by incessant Russian strikes. The 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 launched more drone attacks than Russia in July
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 destroyed wherever it is, by all effective means. It is also quite fair to strike at Russian airfields. And we need this joint solution with our partners - a security solution,” Zelenskiy said in a social media post.
The Ukrainian military said earlier on Saturday that it had attacked Russia’s Morozovsk airfield overnight, hitting an ammunition depot which stored guided aerial bombs among other equipment.
Things to know about the largest US-Russia prisoner swap in post-Soviet history
Sunday 4 August 2024 01:00
Jabed Ahmed
Putin’s troops advance on key city as Ukraine’s forces seek to push them back
Saturday 3 August 2024 23:59
Jabed Ahmed
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.
President Zelensky said recently that the fighting around the vast Donetsk frontline is proving “extremely challenging” but that Ukraine “has the strength to achieve its goals”.
Putin’s hitman, spies and a credit card fraudster: The prisoners returned to Russia in historic swap
Saturday 3 August 2024 23:00
Jabed Ahmed
How Ukraine’s new F-16 fighter jets will help the fight against Putin’s forces and Russia’s drone attacks
Saturday 3 August 2024 22:00
Jabed Ahmed
Roman Seleznev: the fraudster who stole millions of credit card returned in prisoner swap
Saturday 3 August 2024 21:00
Jabed Ahmed
Vladivostok native Roman Seleznev, 32, was indicted by the US in 2011 on charges of stealing millions of credit card numbers from more than 500 American businesses. He earned about $2 million in profit from selling the pilfered data, but caused nearly $170 million in losses overall, according to US investigators.
Seleznev, whose father is a member of the Russian parliament, stayed out of US authorities’ reach until July 2014, when he traveled to the Maldives on vacation and was arrested, then extradited to the States. He was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison.
Ukraine adds another Turkish corvette to its navy for the war with Russia
Saturday 3 August 2024 20:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine has taken delivery of a second Turkish-built navy corvette, officials said, although they did not say specifically how the warships might be used in the war against Russia.
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, attended the launching ceremony of the Ada-class corvette during a visit to Turkey, the Ukrainian presidency announced on its website.
The corvette Ukraine already had is currently undergoing sea trials.
Turkish Ada-class ships are typically able to strike planes, other ships and submarines.
Ukraine, which has coastlines on the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov, had a small navy at the time of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion.
Vadim Krasikov: most notorious among the prisoners returned to Russia in historic swap
Saturday 3 August 2024 19:00
Jabed Ahmed
Vadim Krasikov, 58-year-old hitman, was sentenced to life in prison for muder by a German court in 2021.
He had been arrested after an audacious daylight assassination in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten park, gunning down Chechen separatist commander and Kremlin enemy Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili.
Wearing a dark wig, Krasikov ambushed the Georgia-born 40-year-old Khangoshvili, who had been granted political asylum in Germany, shooting him twice in the head and once in the torso, using a Glock 26 fitted with a silencer, according to prosecutors.
However, the Kremlin denied any involvement or any connection between Krasikov and the Russian state. Such accusations were “absolutely groundless,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time.
Krasikov was the first to step off a Russian government plane early Friday at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, where he was greeted with a hug by Putin,
Who is Evan Gershkovich? The reporter falsely jailed by Russia at centre of US-Moscow prisoner exchange
Saturday 3 August 2024 18:00
Jabed Ahmed
Pictured: IRC checking body bags containing remains of serviceman in largest exchange
Saturday 3 August 2024 17:00
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian military says it sank Russian submarine, damaged anti-aircraft missile system
Saturday 3 August 2024 16:30
Jabed Ahmed
The Ukrainian military said that it had sunk a Russian submarine and damaged an S-400 anti-aircraft missile system in the illegally-occupied Crimean peninsula.
The military said its attack had significantly damaged four launchers of the ‘Triumf’ air defence system on Friday.
Ukrainian forces also successfully hit and sank the Russian “Rostov on Don” submarine in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, the military said.
ICYMI: Russia-Ukraine war update 2 August
Saturday 3 August 2024 16:00
Jabed Ahmed
- Russian assaults are raising pressure on the strategic eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Ukraine says, as waves of guided bombs and infantry lead to some of Moscow’s largest territorial gains since the spring.
- Russian forces are using warplanes and artillery fire to support waves of infantry assaults in the area near Pokrovsk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s National Guard said in televised remarks.
- Russia’s defence minister said its forces had captured five settlements in the Donetsk region in the past week.
- Ukraine said it had received the bodies of 250 killed soldiers in one of the largest exchanges of remains since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Freed prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza: I told the Russians ‘I’ll be back sooner than you think’
Saturday 3 August 2024 15:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russia suffers 1,170 casualties in the past 24 hours
Saturday 3 August 2024 14:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russia has suffered 1,170 killed and wounded combat casualties in the past day, bringing the total since the beginning of the invasion to an an estimated 581,760, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Ukrainian forces have also destroyed 8,406 Russian tanks, 16,238 armored fighting vehicles and 363 warplanes since the invasion, news agency Ukrinform reports.
Latest Intelligence update from UK ministry of Defence
Saturday 3 August 2024 13:30
Jabed Ahmed
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 3 August 2024.
— Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) August 3, 2024
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/PwPJnsVZdN#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/52owshfk8k
Frontline update: 123 combat engagements in past day
Saturday 3 August 2024 12:00
Jabed Ahmed
More than 120 combat engagements were recorded on the front lines in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"According to an update, yesterday the enemy launched one missile strike against the positions of Ukrainian units and populated areas using three missiles, as well as 80 airstrikes, dropping 114 guided aerial bombs. In addition, the enemy launched 4,693 shelling attacks, 93 of them from multiple launch rocket systems," a situation update read.
On 2 August, Ukrainian forces launched 15 strikes on areas with Russian troops, a military equipment area, and a UAV control post.
They also hit two air defense systems and a Russian ammunition depot, according to the frontline update by the armed forces of Ukraine.
Fire at fuel depot in Russia's Rostov region after drone attack extinguished
Saturday 3 August 2024 11:17
Jabed Ahmed
A fire at a fuel storage depot in the Kamensky district of Russia’s Rostov region, caused by a Ukrainian drone attack, has been extinguished and no one was injured in the attack, the head of the district administration has said.
According to the regional governor, 55 Ukrainian drones attacked the region overnight.
A state of emergency has been introduced in the Morozovsky district, also in Rostov, where schools, kindergartens and residential buildings and production facilities were damaged, he added.
Ukraine-launched drones also attacked an oil storage depot in Russia’s Belgorod region, the regional governor said earlier on Saturday, adding that the fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured.
Ukraine‘s military said on Saturday it had attacked Russia’s Morozovsk airfield and a number of oil depots and fuel storage facilities in three Russian regions overnight.
Russia used over 600 guided aerial bombs to attack Ukraine in past week, Zelenskiy says
Saturday 3 August 2024 11:00
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 destroyed wherever it is, by all effective means. It is also quite fair to strike at Russian airfields. And we need this joint solution with our partners - a security solution,” Zelenskiy said in a social media post.
The Ukrainian military said earlier on Saturday that it had attacked Russia’s Morozovsk airfield overnight, hitting an ammunition depot which stored guided aerial bombs among other equipment.
How Ukraine’s new F-16 fighter jets will help the fight against Russia
Saturday 3 August 2024 10:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ukraine has received its first batch of F-16 fighter jets nearly a year after President Zelensky pleaded for them to help counter Russia’s invasion.
Six jets, which will be fitted with modern US weaponry, were delivered to Ukraine from the Netherlands, with more to follow shortly from Denmark.
The two countries, as well as Belgium and Norway, have promised to provide Kyiv with more than 60 of the American-made planes over the next few months.
“They will be able to affect some of the dynamics of the war,” Federico Borsari, an analyst at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said.
Alexander Butler reports.
Ukraine adds another Turkish corvette
Saturday 3 August 2024 09:45
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ukraine has taken delivery of a second Turkish-built navy corvette, officials said, although they did not say specifically how the warships might be used in the war against Russia.
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, attended the launching ceremony of the Ada-class corvette during a visit to Turkey, the Ukrainian presidency announced on its website.
The corvette Ukraine already had is currently undergoing sea trials. Turkish Ada-class ships are typically able to strike planes, other ships and submarines.
More here.
Russian airstrike damage ‘critical infrastructure’ in Ukraine
Saturday 3 August 2024 09:15
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
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.
Breaking: Ukraine says it struck Russia’s Morozovsk airfield
Saturday 3 August 2024 08:43
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ukraine says it has struck Russia’s Morozovsk military airfield and fuel tanks at the Atlas plant in an overnight drone attack.
The Morozovsk airfield houses Su-34 Fullback fighter bombers, which played a crucial role in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Ukraine said the attack on the airfield hit an ammunition depot where Russian forces stored guided aerial bombs among other equipment.
The Atlas plant stores petroleum products and supplies for Russian army. It sustained damages, according to Ukrainian media reports.
Kyiv also targeted oil depots and fuel and lubricant storage facilities in Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov regions caused fires at two oil tanks.
Putin’s troops advance on key city
Saturday 3 August 2024 08:15
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
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.
Alex Croft has more.